The Dutch-Canadian Committee 1945-70 under the Patronage of Her Majesty Queen Juliana and His Royal Highness Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands created “Operation Thank You Canada”. Highlights of the National Commemoration and Festivities in Ottawa on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Holland’s liberation included a Gala “Thank you Canada’ dinner at the Chateau Laurier, and an old-fashioned “Amsterdam Liberation Party” in the Civic Centre, Ottawa, a concert by the massed Dutch-Canadian Choirs and Laurentian High School Band directed by H. Bonnenberg and produced by Wim de Bruyn. To commemorate those who died in the liberation of the Netherlands, there were moments of silence and a Wreath laying Ceremony with Jan van Bruchem and Rev. A. J. van den Pol laying a wreath on behalf of Dutch-Canadians at the Ottawa War Memorial Cenotaph. Documentation of the festivities were recorded on an L.P. Stereo titled Operation Thank You Canada 1945-70 written and produced by Jan van Bruchem and Narrated by Ken Haslam.
In a letter written by Prime Minster Pierre Elliott Trudeau on the occasion of the 25th anniversary in 1970 he stated “The Netherlands and Canada are bound by friendship that is strong and true. It has been reinforced by our common struggle for freedom during World War II and by the remarkable contributions to their adopted land of our many citizens of Dutch origin. There could be no more eloquent affirmation of this friendship than “Operation Thank You Canada”.
