Windsor City Council is appealing to the federal government to review the terms required to recognize Canadian soldiers with the Victoria Cross, the country's highest honour for valour.
The motion that passed unanimously during Monday's council meeting was introduced by Ward 6 Councillor Jo-Anne Gignac, whose son served in the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.
Gignac's motion also calls on the government to establish a military review board to look at the acts of bravery by individuals that may have been previously overlooked, and if they pass the test, they should be honoured.
According to Veterans Affairs Canada, the Victoria Cross has been presented to 99 Canadians, or people closely associated with Canada, between its creation for acts performed during the Crimean War and 1993.
No Canadian received the VC from 1945 to 1993, and no Canadian has yet been awarded the Canadian Victoria Cross, instituted in 1993 in a move away from the United Kingdom honours system.
Gignac says valour and courage should be rewarded appropriately.
"I understand that the Victoria Cross was awarded for veterans of World War 2 and World War 1, which they considered the big war, but the courage is no different," she says.
The Victoria Cross is awarded for the most conspicuous bravery, a daring or preeminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty, in the presence of the enemy.
Windsor native Bruce Moncour, who served and was injured in Afghanistan, has been advocating for this to happen for nearly five years and even has a petition Canadians can sign in favour of the independent review.
Moncour told AM800's The Shift they've identified up to 38 soldiers who you could make an argument deserve to be honoured, and that's why an independent review board is needed.
"The Americans have done this, the Australians have done this, and the British are in the process of doing this right now," he says. "We don't have to invent the wheel; we can look at what works in other countries and make our own system. Hopefully with a bit of support, we can move this forward."
Gignac says she hopes the prime minister recognizes it's time to establish this independent review board.
"Not to just do away with all of the reviews of the incident, but if they meet the test, then let's award what should be awarded," she says.
Moncour is advocating for Jess Larochelle to become Canada's first Victoria Cross recipient since we created our own in 1993.
On October 14, 2006, Larochelle was manning a machine gun observation post when his company was attacked by a force of over 50 Taliban, who were equipped with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms weapons.
His observation post took a direct hit, and Larochelle was wounded, briefly losing consciousness, also suffering a broken vertebra in his neck and back, a detached retina in one of his eyes, and a blown eardrum.
When he came to, Larochelle began firing his machine gun at the attackers, but he quickly ran out of ammunition. He then began firing M72 rocket launchers at the enemy, firing fifteen 66-mm rockets at a force of about 20-40 Taliban insurgents, forcing the attackers to retreat.
Larochelle was treated for his serious wounds, and on March 14, 2007, he was awarded the Star of Military Valour, Canada's second-highest medal of bravery, for his actions during the battle.
However, he suffered from medical complications for years due to his injuries and died on August 30, 2023.