State Funeral petition reaches 50,000 signatures

The Dominion Institute's online petition calling for a future state funeral to commemorate the eventual passing of Canada's last First World War veteran resident in Canada has reached its goal of 50,000 signatures.

An online CBC News story was posted early on Friday, and the resulting publicity helped give the petition its final few thousand signatures by late Friday / early Saturday.

619,636 Canadians served in the First World War, and only three are still alive: Percy Dwight Wilson, 105, and Lloyd Clemett and John Babcock, both 106.