Veterans Affairs committee  For me, personally, we have over 500 to the Battle of Hong Kong, and close to 3,000 to Italy, for Ortona. Altogether, by the time this tour is over, we will have had over 15,000 students since 2004.

Veterans Affairs committee  One of the things I talk about that we as a country don't understand sometimes or celebrate is how much Canadians truly love their history and their country. I don't think a lot of different levels everywhere understand how important Canada's history is to Canadians.

Veterans Affairs committee  I have some really quick stories. At the 60th anniversary at Juno Beach, there was a young girl on my trip, spoiled rotten but a good kid. After all the ceremonies the only people allowed on the beach are the Queen—our Queen—the veterans, and my students. We're on the beach. Ou

Veterans Affairs committee  That's one of the reasons why it takes two years, because the school boards have that same concern and want to provide assistance: they don't want to be seeing this as an elitist thing. So by giving the students two years, it makes the payments smaller and affordable, and also gi

Veterans Affairs committee  Because EF is an international company, the tour guides come from all countries. I've had to explain to these tour guides from Germany why we're doing it. Once they understand we're talking about commemoration versus celebration and they think about our Canadian identity, then th

Veterans Affairs committee  No.

Veterans Affairs committee  They may go to a Legion and maybe a Legion might give them some money, but no, there's no government funding. I think that's what makes it really important, and proves the fact that they do care, and they do remember, because it's the families and they are individually—

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't know how good a job I did when I spoke. On all the tours I do, every student is matched with two soldiers, depending on what the tour is about. One thing we say explicitly to the families, the teachers, and the students is that if they are related to any soldier who too

Veterans Affairs committee  I had a veteran in Sudbury break down and cry when he said, “Can my son represent me?” I said, “Absolutely”, and he said, “Thank you”, and I said, “No, I thank you”.

Veterans Affairs committee  I encourage as many of you as possible to come with us. What you'll see at Vimy and in Italy is quite remarkable because it grows every year. One of our largest areas of growth is with our cadets. Going to Vimy we have the sea cadets of Winnipeg—which brings me great delight—an

Veterans Affairs committee  That's a somewhat easy one, and I would love to see more of it. I'd like to see greater cooperation between us and the elected representatives. We'd gladly provide the contacts with the schools that we have going so that you could contact them and share information. In answer to

Veterans Affairs committee  A great thing about what I do is that I get to work with the best teachers and students in Canada. They're highly motivated and they're out there, and they're just looking for the opportunity. I agree with you and think that it should start from the grassroots. I think that's w

Veterans Affairs committee  I've actually been asked to try to do Korea. Sadly, the problem is that in Korea they don't have the infrastructure that can support what we would have to do. South Africa at the time didn't either, but in our soldier adoption, we allow them to take soldiers and we encourage the

Veterans Affairs committee  As you may be aware, there are only three provinces in Canada where it's mandatory to study Canadian history. I think the first thing that we have to do, and what I'd love to see, is a national hearing where we invite the ministers of education to join us in one place and talk ab

Veterans Affairs committee  With regard to commemoration and experiential learning, I have seen first-hand the value of having students walk the walk of what they've studied in a textbook. At Juno Beach and at the trenches of Beaumont-Hamel, students will always experience that “aha” moment when they unders