When you’re an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force there isn’t much time for partying, however, Jaclyn Swain will be able to make an exception for this year’s Canada Day festivities.
The born and raised Jasperite has been given special permission to leave her base in Moose Jaw, Sask., to come home and lead the town’s annual parade, bearing the Canadian flag.
“I’m really honoured and excited, but it’s a little nerve racking because it’s my hometown and I’ll know a lot of the people,” Swain said. “But I haven’t been to a Canada Day in Jasper in a bunch of years so it’ll be fun to be home and see who’s back in town.”
The 26-year-old first started seriously considering the air force after high school.
“I always knew I wanted to fly and be a pilot,” Swain said.
Swain left her beloved town in 2007 and headed off to the University of Victoria where she completed her bachelor of science. Upon graduating she decided to go after her dream and applied to the military. She was officially offered a pilot position in 2012, which led to her current spot in Saskatchewan where she spends most of her days flying a single-engine turboprop aircraft, training new military pilots.
“It’s a very stressful job because you’re trying to keep track of all these planes in the sky and making sure that they are all doing what they are supposed to be doing,” she said. “You have to make sure everyone is very aware of each other, which can be quite challenging.”
When it came to decide who would lead this year’s parade, Hugh Conway of the Jasper Canada Day Committee said the decision was a no brainer.
“She was born here, grew up here, graduated from here and now look at her. She’s a real Jasper success story,” Conway said. “She’s someone from town that kids can look up to and see that it is possible to join the military and be successful.”
Conway added that each year the parade is led by some form of military personnel.
“We knew that we would rather have a local leading the parade then some soldier out of Edmonton that has never been here before,” he said.
In line with this year’s theme–celebrate diversity–five other flag bearers will join Swain in leading the parade. Each will hold a different flag, representing Canada’s diversity. Among the six flags will be a First Nations flag, an Acadian flag and the Union Jack.
“We’re going to have flag bearers that represent the Scottish, Korean, British, First Nations, Jamaican and Sikh communities,” Conway said. “Everyone comes from a different background but we all call Canada home and that’s really what we’re celebrating.”
The parade begins at 1 p.m. from the Jasper Activity Centre and winds its way through town, down Connaught Drive, to Hazel Avenue, right down Patricia Street to Elm Street and then turns onto Turret Street.
The day of national pride will also include the annual pancake breakfast, a flag raising ceremony, musical performances and a dazzling display of fireworks at Centennial Field.
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
