Ottawa names its 2026 Remembrance Day sentries, led by RMC cadet Quinn MacDonald

The 12 members selected for the 2026 Remembrance Day Sentry Program have been announced and will take part in the vigil and ceremonies at the National Remembrance Day ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, which begins at about 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday (November 11), Canadian Military Family Magazine reported. Sentry Commander Officer Cadet Quinn MacDonald leads the group in the Royal Military College of Canada's 150th anniversary year.

The Sentry Program dates to 1998

Established in 1998, the program recognizes outstanding Regular Force, Reserve Force and RCMP members for their dedication, professionalism and performance. Selection considers deployment experience, community involvement, physical fitness and conduct. This year's participants will stand vigil, perform music, carry or assist with the Eagle Staff, or attend as a special guest, according to their assigned roles.

Twelve sentries from the services and the RCMP

The twelve comprise 11 Canadian Armed Forces members and one RCMP officer. MacDonald, originally from Halifax, joined the CAF in 2023 and is in his fourth year of an honours history degree at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, where he coordinates training for 6 Squadron and competes on the college's chess team. He hopes to honour the naval and officer cadets who served before him. The others include Captain Valérie Coulombe, a nursing officer serving in Ottawa who worked in Montreal long-term care homes and an Edmonton intensive care unit during the COVID-19 pandemic and deployed on Operations REASSURANCE and HORIZON in 2026; Staff Sergeant Chris Smigelsky, the RCMP sentry, who joined the force in 1997 and whose grandfather was a Second World War veteran; Master Corporal Alastair Sanderson, the lone piper; and Sailor First Class Renjie Zhao, the bugler, who began playing trumpet at 13 in Shenyang, studied music in China and France, and joined the CAF in 2020. The two minutes of silence begin at 11 a.m., and the Royal Canadian Legion will livestream the ceremony on Facebook. Source: Canadian Military Family Magazine.