Veterans Affairs committee  I suppose we'll start it off. Thank you for the question. I'll answer in English. One of the issues we have is that in 2006, when the new Veterans Charter came in, it came in as a living document. We didn't see any life in the document until 2011, when we had Bill C-55. When it came in it actually put something back into the new Veterans Charter.

Veterans Affairs committee  Honourable Chair and members of the committee, good evening, and thank you. I do agree with you, Chair, that 632 is the friendliest branch in all of Ottawa. It's a great pleasure to appear once again in front of the committee. I'm pleased to speak on behalf of our Dominion president, Mr.

Veterans Affairs committee  I would love to try to clarify the confusion because that is exactly the issue that we are asking about as well. From coast to coast to coast, Canadians recognize November 11 as Remembrance Day. We all celebrate Remembrance Day. As a parent and as a service member, I took great joy in going to my sons' schools, to their Remembrance assemblies, wearing my uniform and medals, and talking about what Remembrance Day was all about and why.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think there have been attempts, but I don't think they've been successful, to make that connection to talk about this bill and how it was formulated and what our opinion was on it.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's how we've formulated our policy within the organization, and from that formulation people believe that holidays don't equate to commemoration.

Veterans Affairs committee  If the delegates accept that position, then that would be the position of the Royal Canadian Legion.

Veterans Affairs committee  As I said in the presentation, we do have that representation. It comes up all the way from the branch level to become national policy. That's how the policy is formulated at the national level. Regardless of where this goes, the Legion doesn't break the law.

Veterans Affairs committee  Keeping with the chairman's wishes, no.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'd like to start by saying that, first off, I don't think anybody challenges the idea that we have to respect and celebrate and commemorate our veterans and the sacrifices made on behalf of average, everyday Canadians. That's a given. It's how we do it and what are the best educational opportunities to get that done.

Veterans Affairs committee  As I think we noted in our presentation, even though you may have it as a holiday, it does tend to morph into a statutory holiday, which means that people will get the time off and go away. People expect it. It's kind of a semantical argument, in that way. We worked with the City of Ottawa here to talk about when the stores could open in Ottawa around the national Remembrance Day ceremony.

Veterans Affairs committee  Honourable chairman and members of the committee, good morning and thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee today to speak on Bill C-597. On behalf of our Dominion president, Comrade Tom Eagles, and our 300,000 members, it's a pleasure to be here. I am Brad White, the Dominion secretary of the Royal Canadian Legion.

Veterans Affairs committee  Chairman, it will be me.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm going to start and then I'll hand it off to Steven quickly. The intent of any legislation, whatever it's going to be, should be to put forward to all Canadians the issues of sacrifice and remembrance, and the respect they have for their veterans and people who serve their country, whether they be members of the Canadian Forces, members of the RCMP, or members of emergency services.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think that in any democratic organization, as we see in Parliament today, there are regional differences and divisions. The Legion is very much the same thing as what Parliament is. We have our regional differences. We have our regional issues. When these issues are debated, they're debated on those types of issues.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, it was.