The Juno Beach Centre (JBC) announced its Faces of Canada Today permanent exhibition will be renewed and renovated for the 80th anniversary of D-Day in June 2024. .“Faces of Canada Today will explore how the resilience of Canadian service personnel during and after the Second World War helped transform Canadian society,” said Juno Beach Centre Association Director of Exhibitions Marie Eve Vaillancourt in a press release. .“This legacy guides us today as we strive to create a more just and tolerant society, able to overcome obstacles and serve others.”.Since the JBC opened to the public in 2003, the release said Faces of Canada Today has shown the country’s evolution since the Second World War and helped people understand how one million veterans changed the world. However, it said the content of these exhibitions were created in the late 1990s and are now outdated and missing many significant events in Canadian history over the past 20 years. .These themes will be illustrated through several broader sections, the first of which explores post-war immigration, beginning with the return of Canadian veterans and their European war brides and their contributions to society. .Vaillancourt said the diversification of Canadian society, its growing multiculturalism, and difficulties faced by non-white people will be examined. She added the notions of tolerance and inclusion will “help underpin how Canada is a country that strives to live in peace with itself and with others.” .One section of the exhibition will be dedicated to the volunteerism, activism, and environmentalism driving Canada, while another will unpack the struggles of its colonial history with indigenous people. The JBC expressed gratitude to the support of Veterans Affairs Canada, which provided a $25,000 grant through the Commemorative Partnership Program. .The release went on to say it will demonstrate the service of modern veterans — those thousands of Canadians who have worn the uniform since 1945 — continuing to inform the country’s identity. .It said this renewal project will reflect the culture of remembrance and the history of the poppy symbol from the First World War to the present day. .Featuring stories from across Canada’s diverse population, Faces of Canada Today aims to be reflective, nuanced, and honest in its portrayal of courage, resilience, and sacrifice. .The JBC thanked Region Normandie and React EU ($366,835) and Direction de la memoire, de la culture, et des archives ($293,468) for their support. It is a $1.3 million project, and the JBC has raised about two-thirds of its funding goal so far. .Vaillancourt concluded by saying standing on Juno Beach today means reflecting on how a place of war can become a place of peace. She called taking time to reflect on peace “an act of engaged remembrance and citizenship.”.“This new permanent exhibition will immerse visitors in an emotional contemplation of Canada’s growth and recovery since the end of the Second World War,” she said. .The Canadian and French governments confirmed in October they will be collaborating to protect Juno Beach after a residential developer threatened to build on the site. .READ MORE: Canadian, French governments secure long-term protection of Juno Beach.“Canadians came ashore at Juno Beach as part of the most ambitious military operation the world has ever seen and, in turn, helped liberate a continent,” said Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay. .Canadians landed on Juno Beach during D-Day in 1944, marking a turning point for the Allied Forces during the Second World War. This victory allowed them to enter continental Europe and defeat the Nazis.
