Veterans Affairs committee  That's right. Yes, absolutely.

Veterans Affairs committee  You're welcome, Mr. Chair. I mentioned that we started each morning with a distinctly Canadian cheer. Perhaps you would join me in it. Basically, it starts with me saying “Nij” and you saying “Megen”. Let's give it a shot. Nij.

Veterans Affairs committee  Well, from the military there are about 5,000. We're one of the smaller contingents, but the Dutch are there, obviously, in large numbers. The Brits actually bring their cadets over from the youth cadet program. They'll have several hundred of them and they're accommodated in t

Veterans Affairs committee  He did. That's right.

Veterans Affairs committee  Certainly. I've been on battlefield tours before where we've had Canadian Forces members from the staff college over in Europe doing a battlefield tour. During that tour, we actually had a Canadian tank commander and a German tank commander, who we believe may have faced off on t

Veterans Affairs committee  I believe we are capped by the organizers of the march. They're very tolerant of us, though, because they know we've been long-standing supporters. We bring a lot to the march. Often we bring a band with us. They like to see that kind of thing. I would think there might be som

Veterans Affairs committee  You guys can all do it. You're welcome to join us.

Veterans Affairs committee  In the first year you'll find you're so nervous, especially as a commander, so I thought, “You have to lead these guys and gals, and you'd better make sure you're going to cross that line”, so I did every kilometre. The second year I thought, “Now that I know what I'm doing, mayb

Veterans Affairs committee  I have a little anecdote to share with you. Is there anybody of Danish descent here? No? The Danish contingent actually march from Denmark—there is one ferry ride, of course—to Nijmegen ahead of the march as part of their training. I'm not sure what the distance is. I think it's

Veterans Affairs committee  Is it? So those guys are bears for punishment, I think, but they really love the walking.

Veterans Affairs committee  No, on average, the number of marchers would be about 160 to 170, depending on the number of teams. They have the support staff as well, and the band happened to be there that year, which brought our numbers up. I would say that it's normally about 170 marchers, and 90% of them w

Veterans Affairs committee  Speak for yourself, Mr. Lemieux.

Veterans Affairs committee  Taking the second question first, training is a huge demand in terms of time. Again, it's the secret to success. You can go over there without having done enough training and it will be hell, or you can go over there, be successful, and enjoy the whole experience. Depending on

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, the selection process is a tough thing. I've had to do it twice now. You get over 30 applications for about 15 positions. What we do is look at the level of participation historically from across the Canadian Forces. The aim is that each base, each wing, and each formation o

Veterans Affairs committee  Certainly, I am aware of Dutch people male and female who have completed over 60 or 65 marches. They started when they were teenagers. They are in their late seventies, I suspect even into their eighties. Laurie, you might know more.