Veteran central to Canada’s defence intelligence honoured in Kingston, Ont.

Peter Weeks knew his father, Major General Reg Weeks, in a different way than most.

“I see a different part of him, you know? He was my dad, he was my father,” Weeks said.

Reg Weeks joined the military at the onset of World War II, and through his years of service, left behind a lasting legacy, according to Canada’s Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major General Michael Wright

“The highest honour in the intelligence branch is the awarding of the Major General Weeks Award,” Wright said.

Weeks died in 2006 at the age of 83. On Saturday, a monument honouring him was unveiled in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Canadian intelligence core and the 40th anniversary of the intelligence branch.

“(Reg) put a lot of the structures, the processes, the technology into place,” added Wright, “that have served as a foundation that has lasted for the defence intelligence enterprise to this day.”

For the younger Weeks, he briefly considered following in his father’s footsteps at one point, but chose otherwise.

“I decided that it really wasn’t the path for me, and that’s okay with him,” Peter said.

Weeks is just happy to see so much respect being paid to his father.

“My kids, and my kids’ kids, can come back and see, that was your grandfather or your great-grandfather or great-great-grandfather.”

And leaving behind a legacy passed onto generations he will never meet is not bad for a man who arrived in Canada with just pennies in his pocket.