Base Borden welcomed a special visitor for a dedication ceremony to honour the late Colonel Karen Ritchie today. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan was among the dignitaries at the ceremony

Base Borden welcomed a special visitor for a dedication ceremony to honour the late Colonel Karen Ritchie today.

Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan was on-hand for the official opening of the new Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RCEME) School. The 14,000-metre squared building is the home of state-of-the-art training facilities that will keep its students well trained for many years on the latest technology. While the building was completed in March 2017, today it was renamed the Colonel Karen Ritchie Building and Sajjan explained why this needed to happen.

“The women and men of RCEME always keep the ground forces running and their specialized knowledge cannot be found anywhere else,” said Sajjan. “Our soldiers use their equipment in some of the most challenging conditions and they depend on every piece of their equipment to get the job done. It is fitting that we gather together today, exactly 74 years after the RCEME was born. It is fitting that we are naming this building after a woman who dedicated her life to the same principals as the RCEME; leadership, knowledge and innovation. Colonel Karen Ritchie dedicated 28 years to the Canadian Armed Forces and she was tragically taken away from us, but not before she knocked down barriers and inspired a generation of soldiers to be the best that they could be.”

Ritchie died in a car accident on Thanksgiving Day in 2008 and was the first woman to serve as a RCEME Colonel. The 45-year-old soldier was a trailblazer for women and was a former Commander of 5 Area Support Group in Quebec (now known as 2nd Canadian Division Support Group) and deputy chair of the Committee on Women in NATO Forces.

The new building is valued at $81.7 million, brought in 150 jobs to the region during its construction will house an average of 450 students annually and produces 1,800 course graduates per year. As part of the new Canadian defence policy, Strong, Secure and Engaged, the building will help with the greening policy and meet the federal government’s new emission reduction target by 2050. The Ritchie Building will be the home of not only students and staff, but was also built to accommodate modern military vehicles and specialized training equipment. Ritchie’s sister Angela said a few words and described not only what it was like to have a big sister in the military but also how the armed forces have now become close to Karen’s family.

“I remember when Karen joined the army,” said Angela. “She was 16 turning 17, my middle sister was 14 and I was 11. To get Karen in shape for basic training my parents in all their wisdom decided that as a family we should all get up and jog every morning at 6am. We didn’t have many friends who had sisters who were joining the army, in fact we didn’t have any, but we did think it was really cool. Our whole family is so honoured today and we thank you so much; over the last ten years since Karen passed the RCEME Corp has become our family and we are so honoured to have this building named after Karen and she would be too.”