Whenever the monarch or another member of the Royal Family is in Ottawa, they will, regardless of the date, lay a wreath at the monument.[18] Visiting foreign dignitaries will also sometimes lay a wreath at the monument; prominent figures who have done so include US President John F. Kennedy in 1961,[19] Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990,[20] US Secretary of State John Kerry, and French President François Hollande in 2014.