Junor, Kevin

Kevin Junor was born April 8, 1963 in England to Jamaican parents who had emigrated there a few years earlier.  The family later moved to Canada and Kevin grew up in the Bellamy-Lawrence neighbourhood of Scarborough, in Toronto’s east end.  A Canadian Forces recruiting officer visited Kevin’s high school when he was 17, and Kevin decided to join up – for the summer: as Kevin noted “…it was summer that turned into forty years!” He adapted to the military lifestyle, and was off for training at CFB Borden.  His first deployment would come in the early 2000s, when in 2007 he was sent to Sierra Leone in the aftermath of a civil war.    The British headed up that mission, intended to stabilize the nation in advance of elections that were on the way.  Kevin’s job was to prepare the elements of the Sierra Leone military and police for the role they would play in the elections and after.  While he had positive memories of his time there, he did mention having to confront the realities of racism on the ground, including from other Canadian soldiers on the mission.  During that time Kevin was affiliated with the Toronto Scottish, and he fulfilled many important ceremonial and command duties as the Regimental Sergeant-Major.  A later deployment in 2020 took him to Jordan, in the Middle East, where he was also involved in duties aimed at increasing regional stability, including building a road between Jordan and Syria.  In that respect, Kevin and the Canadian Forces have maintained an important tradition and an important pillar of Canada’s postwar status as a Middle Power.  As he closed out his military career, Kevin became a member of the Queen’s Own Rifles, and he developed his interests in Canada’s Black military history, working to commemorate the contributions of Black Canadians in times of war.  That included important work on Canada’s No. 2 Black Construction battalion in the First World War, where an official government apology came after many years, thanks to Kevin and others’ efforts.  Kevin is now retired, but he remains active in his community and proud of his involvement in the Canadian Forces.  Crestwood students were able to meet Kevin for an in person interview in April 2024 at the Exchange, part of the Caledon Community Services network.