Veterans Affairs committee  What I can say is that we've looked at our numbers, and over the last three years up to and including this April, we will have had over 11,000 students visit Juno Beach. There have been over 9,000 to Vimy Ridge, and certainly in the 3,000 to 5,000 range have been to Beaumont-Hame

Veterans Affairs committee  They're making a choice that this is something that they want to invest in from a personal education perspective.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  That occurs in a number of ways. You do get students who choose to raise funds on their own to cover the costs. I can give you the example of a young man from Durham who last year decided he wanted to come to the victory in Europe tour. He made a decision to go door-to-door to hi

Veterans Affairs committee  Our programs are not subsidized. We receive no funding from any level of government, and they're paid for by the individuals who choose to travel with us.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's no. Every student who goes on our tour pays their own way, 100%. There are no subsidies from anybody.

Veterans Affairs committee  We also have teachers who choose to bring modern-day veterans into their classroom to speak about their experiences. We've had the opportunity to have Afghanistan veterans participate in some of the activities students are taking part in. It continues to be an opportunity for us

Veterans Affairs committee  I think you'll see, and we've seen, the current Afghanistan veterans, after they've had a chance to come home, begin to represent those members of the Canadian Forces who came before them. The younger veterans I've spoken to talk about wanting to participate in things such as the

Veterans Affairs committee  They certainly can. We do have an opportunity, and many parents take the opportunity to travel with their student as part of the tours their school might be taking, either as a chaperone or as someone who becomes a traveller on the trip. We also provide the opportunity around sp

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, if I could just add to that a little bit, in our experience working with teachers across the country, I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that they're very creative. One of the things we've noticed is that schools are taking part in commemoration and remembranc

Veterans Affairs committee  That's a great point, and the costs of travelling overseas have come up today a couple of times. I'd like to take the opportunity to identify that for you. The cost for a student to travel overseas next year for eight days in Europe—flights, meals, busing, from when they leave t

Veterans Affairs committee  We have a very active program that brings students to Ottawa as part of their national history programs. Typically we will take students to Montreal and Quebec City as well. We have the opportunity for students to travel to the maritime provinces and learn about history from the

Veterans Affairs committee  Thanks, Dave. The video I have for you is about three minutes. Hopefully it will be close to the time allotted. I just want to wrap up by sharing my personal experience. My great-grandfather was a veteran of World War I, and he emigrated to Canada from England. I know that t

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Greg Owen, and I'm a vice-president of EF Educational Tours in Canada. I'm responsible for our event-based tours, which include those related to commemoration. With me is Dave Robinson, a retired history teacher from Port Perry, Ontario. Som