Good afternoon.
My name is John Sobey. I'm currently an active member of the Ottawa Fire Services. I serve as the vice-president of the Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association. I've been active for 32 years, including in the municipal and military fire service, and I currently sit as a CFFF board director. I hold the position of chair of our ceremony committee.
As far as the role I would play, as Bob pointed out, our VIPs are first and foremost, and will continue to be, the families of the fallen firefighters we're honouring in a particular year. This year, by the way, will be our 9th annual ceremony. My role, as the ceremony coordinator, captures the weekend of events. Specifically to the ceremony itself, I speak to the firefighters, honour guards, the colour parties, and bands that will participate on a voluntary basis in our ceremony.
The Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation recognizes all branches of Canadian fire services at all levels of government: municipal; the Canadian Volunteer Fire Services Association; our brothers and sisters in the armed forces; and those in the wild lands. It's comprehensive in that we include a lot of individuals who, for the most part, certainly aren't known—and historically firefighters aren't—for their ceremonial cut. It's certainly a privilege, in my role and in my experience, to organize our brothers and sisters so that we fulfill the capacity of honouring the families the way we do.