A loss in her own family
The Royal Canadian Legion selected Hicks for this year's role. Her daughter, Sapper Mariebeth Short, died at age 22 on Sept. 23, 2002, when her light armored vehicle rolled over during training at CFB Petawawa in Ontario's Ottawa Valley, according to CBC News. Short was a combat engineer preparing for a possible deployment to Afghanistan or Bosnia.
Hicks also had a military career: She served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 29 years, reached the rank of sergeant and deployed to the Persian Gulf, the Golan Heights, Kabul, Kandahar and Italy. In April 2009, seven years after Short's death, she received the Memorial Cross, also called the Silver Cross.
The families of the four soldiers killed at Wainwright will receive the Memorial Cross as well, CBC News reports. The decoration recognizes the loss of a loved one in service.
Four killed and 39 injured at Wainwright
National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces said the Oct. 17, 2026, fire occurred during Exercise APOLLO SHOOTER at CFB Wainwright in Alberta. Troops from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, part of 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, were conducting live-fire training. The fire killed four members and injured 39.
Those killed were Sgt. Morgan Wong, 26; Pte. Shaun Farrell, 23; Pte. Aidan Goulding, 23; and Pte. Hayden Lykkemark, 19.
A National Defence update put the number of injured members still in the hospital at 25 as of Nov. 4, 2026, with 14 others released. Four of those still hospitalized had been moved to health care facilities in British Columbia and Ontario to be nearer their home communities.
