Veterans Affairs committee  There's that link, the liberation. There's also a link due to a very special birth that occurred here in Ottawa in 1943, and I'll touch on that a little bit later. There are over one million spectators who line the route during the marches there. It's an incredible event. It's a national holiday for that region.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I would like to start off by thanking you for the opportunity to address you this morning. Nijmegen holds a very special place in my heart, as it does in Sergeant MacIntyre's heart and for anyone who has actually completed the marches.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's right. GPS, so you can find them. Here's the outline. Basically, I'm going to cover the five Ws in a specific order. We'll get to that through each of these bullets. I welcome questions throughout, or if you don't mind, you can hold them until the end. Hopefully, I'll answer your questions during the presentation, but I'm happy to take questions anytime.

Veterans Affairs committee  Apparently not. They don't know what they missed. Finally, here's the why. Here you'll see a list of objectives. I'm going to cover them all in a little bit more detail in a minute. First of all is fielding a first-class contingent. It allows us to showcase the Canadian Forces to an international audience.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's right. They are fairly austere conditions, but they certainly meet the need for what we need while we're there. It really does bring the teams closer together, because they're in close quarters and really getting to know each other. Now I'll move on to the who. The size of the Canadian contingent will vary from year to year.

Veterans Affairs committee  KNBLO is the association that actually organizes the march. I can't remember what it specifically stands for. You can see in the photo in the top right that it is really the high point: everybody's on the highest emotions; the crowds are cheering and we know we've completed our four days of marching.

Veterans Affairs committee  Unfortunately, he did not get the medal. The guy in the centre needs no introduction. I think you all know him. He's one of our biggest marching fans and supporters. Again, thank you, Monsieur Lizon, for inviting us here. I would like to turn the floor over to my colleague, Sergeant MacIntyre, to speak for a couple of minutes on his experience.

Veterans Affairs committee  It was a great opportunity to bond with the people as well. The Soldier On experiment that year was successful. The model we're moving to now though is to get Soldier On program members embedded in the teams from the various bases and wings from their local area, so they're able to train and march with their own teammates for the whole training period, as opposed to coming together a couple of times throughout the training period.

Veterans Affairs committee  I have not. I would think one of the big challenges with that, sir, would be the congestion on the roads. They're very conscious of the number of people on the road at any one time. They do not allow bicycles. They do not allow even—there was one exception made for a wheelchair.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you.

Veterans Affairs committee  One of the keys to being successful at Nijmegen is the training. Part of that training is making sure we have the right socks and footwear, the right system on our feet to serve us well. Not every person likes to wear the same things on their feet. People are different. But whatever you end up using to train with is what you need to stick with.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, it was unfortunate.

Veterans Affairs committee  The caretaker's?

Veterans Affairs committee  I know only a little bit about it. Mr. Jones could tell this story much better than I can. There was a Canadian who was hired to look after the Groesbeek cemetery, and he did so for 40 years or something.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. Obviously, a cemetery like that is reserved for the war dead, but he had made an arrangement, I'm not sure through who, to authorize his burial there.