Canadian Heritage Committee on April 20th, 2015

[Jim Hillyer, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

Can you give us a little bit of information about the funding that's been announced for the Manitoba Museum and why you think it's a good investment?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Awesome. Thank you very much.

We, of course, are very fortunate to have some phenomenal museums in Manitoba. A new national museum, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, was opened and I was proud to be there. The Manitoba Museum has been around since I was a child. I love going there, not only for my own enjoyment but also once I had children and now grandchildren. It is one of those places that is a must-see when you're in Manitoba.

They do not have enough space. They want to offer exhibits from across the world. They want to showcase them. They had one, when we announced the funding, about pirates. A large amount of the exhibit in fact could not be displayed because they didn't have enough space. I was proud to announce, on behalf of the Government of Canada, on behalf of Heritage's Canada cultural spaces fund, $1.175 million so that they could expand and use what's called the Alloway Hall to actually provide more space, which is so desperately needed for this wonderful museum.

They're also going to get some funding for heating and air conditioning. As we all know, it's important that any artifacts that are presented in our museums are acclimatized. We are going to make sure, with the assistance of the Province of Manitoba, which is also providing funds, and of course the Winnipeg Foundation, that they have the tools needed to make sure these exhibits stay safe.

They'll also be getting new sound systems, lighting, those kinds of things. I hope we encourage people to go back again. I've been back so many times over the years. There's always something new. I'm particularly proud of the aboriginal content at the Manitoba Museum. We have a whole area devoted to the Métis. As a proud Métis woman, it's just incredible to walk in and see your history on display.

They recently were able to buy some artifacts, clothing from a hundred years ago that displays the type of artwork our aboriginal peoples were involved in. They're just the finest quality. They've been preserved so well. They're really something to see.

If you ever have a chance to get there, please come visit.

[Jim Hillyer, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I will.

Regarding the measures to unbundle cable packages and satellite packages, I'm all in favour of that. I'm in favour of getting rid of the mandatory fee for a bill and stuff like that. At the same time, I'm pretty committed to the principles of the free market. I'm not in favour of, every time we think car prices are too high or food prices are too high, the government stepping in and legislating those high prices away.

As for television providers, there's some justification for our government to get involved in that way. We're not simply in a free market situation with the CRTC-governed companies. Can you just tell us why some free-marketers should be okay with our getting involved in that?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Well, sure. One of the things we want to ensure we have access to is Canadian content. By having some of the licences have some responsibilities towards, for example, French in our minority communities that speak mainly English or English in our minority communities that speak mainly French, these kinds of things are accessible to Canadians through mandatory coverage. We need to continue to do that.

Competition is in fact the best way to provide choice and to help with costs. I too believe that we ought to really encourage competition. I think creativity comes out of that challenge and out of that competition. We want to make sure we get the absolute best quality, not the most. It's not about quantity. It's unfortunate that some people believe in quantity as opposed to quality. For anyone involved in the audiovisual sector, it's a complex sector but I think they appreciate the fact that we stand behind the need to support our Canadian content, like the $660 million a year we put into it. We also want to invoke competition so that consumers benefit from the best quality and the most choice.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Thank you, Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, for appearing today.

Now I have to move to the votes.

Do we have the unanimous consent of the committee to call all of the votes on the main estimates together?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS

Vote 1—Payments to the Canada Council for the Arts under section 18 of the Canada Council for the Arts Act..........$182,097,387

(Vote 1 agreed to on division)

CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$928,331,798

Vote 5—Working capital..........$4,000,000

Vote 10—Capital expenditures..........$105,692,000

(Votes 1, 5, and 10 agreed to on division)

CANADIAN HERITAGE

Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$173,741,400

Vote 5—The grants listed in the Estimates and contributions..........$1,056,279,039

(Votes 1 and 5 agreed to on division)

CANADIAN MUSEUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Vote 1—Operating and capital expenditures..........$21,700,000

(Vote 1 agreed to on division)

CANADIAN MUSEUM OF HISTORY

Vote 1—Operating and capital expenditures..........$83,369,477

(Vote 1 agreed to on division)

CANADIAN MUSEUM OF IMMIGRATION AT PIER 21

Vote 1—Operating and capital expenditures..........$7,700,000

(Vote 1 agreed to on division)

CANADIAN MUSEUM OF NATURE

Vote 1—Operating and capital expenditures..........$26,129,112

(Vote 1 agreed to on division)

CANADIAN RADIO-TELEVISION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Vote 1—Program expenditures..........$5,379,872

(Vote 1 agreed to on division)

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES OF CANADA

Vote 1—Program expenditures..........$83,183,100

(Vote 1 agreed to on division)

NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE CORPORATION

Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$34,222,719

(Vote 1 agreed to on division)

NATIONAL BATTLEFIELDS COMMISSION

Vote 1—Program expenditures..........$10,759,494

(Vote 1 agreed to on division)

NATIONAL FILM BOARD

Vote 1—Program expenditures..........$59,652,377

(Vote 1 agreed to on division)

NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA

Vote 1—Operating and capital expenditures..........$35,773,542

Vote 5—Payment to the National Gallery of Canada for the acquisition of objects for the Collection and other costs attributable to this activity..........$8,000,000

(Votes 1 and 5 agreed to on division)

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Vote 1—Operating and capital expenditures..........$29,754,746

(Vote 1 agreed to on division)

TELEFILM CANADA

Vote 1—Payments to Telefilm Canada to be used for the purposes set out in the Telefilm Canada Act..........$95,453,551

(Vote 1 agreed to on division)

Shall the chair report the votes on the main estimates to the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you very much. We will now briefly suspend.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Good afternoon, everyone.

We will call to order this meeting number 40 of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

In our second hour today, pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, November 5, 2014, Bill C-597, an act to amend the Holidays Act regarding Remembrance Day, will be studied.

We have as witnesses today Gary Schellenberger, MP for Perth—Wellington; from Canadian Veterans Advocacy, Michael Blais, president and founder; and from the Royal Canadian Legion, Bradley White, Dominion secretary, Dominion Command, and Steven Clark, director of administration, Dominion Command.

We have three groups of witnesses. They will each have eight minutes.

We will hear first from Mr. Schellenberger.

You have the floor.

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Thank you, Chair. Indeed it's a pleasure to be here today in this capacity at this end. I chaired this committee for four years, and I used to sit up there sometimes.

Anyway, thanks for having me, and it's great to be here before this committee today.

I'm here to express some of my concerns with Bill C-597. I'd like to start by expressing my deepest respect to those who have served our country. I regularly meet with veterans and attend commemorative events in my riding. I'm a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 8, in Stratford, and the army and navy. I have a number of friends and family members who have served in our armed forces, and I have been chair of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs. It is because of my deep commitment to ensuring that the sacrifices of our veterans are not forgotten that I have some concerns about the impact of this bill.

The main concern I have is one that many others in the veterans community have expressed, that by making Remembrance Day a statutory holiday we risk losing its significance; it will become just another day off. Over time, many people will not bother to remember the purpose of the day, much like what has happened with Victoria Day.

It needs to be recognized that this bill cannot be implemented by the federal government, as the vast majority of employment law is the responsibility of the provinces. If this bill were to pass in its current form, each province would still have the final say on the matter. They would need to amend their labour codes to make it a statutory holiday.

I'm also concerned with the impact on small businesses of requiring them to pay their employees for another statutory holiday. As a former owner of a small business, I allowed any employee unpaid time to go to Remembrance Day ceremonies or to stop and observe two minutes of silence on the job.

It is especially important that our children and youth learn about the sacrifices of our veterans. The governments of Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia believe the best way to do this is to ensure that students are in school observing ceremonies. The federal government should respect their choice.

Last November, when asked about the bill, the president of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 8 in Stratford, Ken Albert, said that when he was young, students used to get the day off to recognize the day but that very few students participated in Remembrance Day activities. He said the Legion was happy when Remembrance Day ceased being a day off. He further stated that he does not think that making it a statutory holiday will bring more people out to cenotaph ceremonies.

I'd like to close by saying that veterans and Legion members in Perth—Wellington regularly thank me for expressing my opposition to making Remembrance Day a statutory holiday. I'm sure that many MPs have heard similar comments from veterans in their ridings.

I have six points that I would like to relay.

Remembrance Day is not a day of leisure. It is a day of remembrance. Anything that takes away from our ability to give thanks for our freedoms and remember the sacrifices made for us is counterproductive.

Currently, many workplaces make allowances on the day and are very understanding of people's desire to take part in remembrance ceremonies in their communities. They take steps to allow people to pay their respects in some way. Most schools either allow classes of children to attend Remembrance Day ceremonies or hold their own assemblies and ceremonies, which involve some excellent work around the act of remembrance. If Remembrance Day were a national holiday, all of these events would either not take place, or would take place in the lead-up to the day. That is counter to the national unity of time and place for all Canadians gathered together at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, all across the country.

As it is now, people make the effort to attend and show their respect, but families could make the choice to do something else on a holiday rather than attend Remembrance Day. If that's what happens, we have failed as legislators to make good on our promise to our veterans that we will all remember them.

Remember July 1 gets moved around all over the place. People want a long weekend. If July 1 comes on a Wednesday, often people work on the Wednesday and move the holiday to the Friday. They forget what it's all about.

With that, I will conclude my remarks and I'll welcome any questions. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you very much, Mr. Schellenberger.

We'll now go to Mr. Blais, and you have up to eight minutes.

[Michael Blais, President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy]

Thank you.

Good afternoon, my name is Michael Blais. I am a disabled veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces. I'm the president and founder of the Canadian Veterans Advocacy. I would like to thank you for inviting me to committee today to speak to this issue regarding the Holidays Act to ensure Remembrance Day is never considered a lesser national holiday.

I am a modern veteran as defined by Veterans Affairs Canada and having been injured overseas, having lost friends to war, to peace, and to the scourge of suicide inflicted by mental wounds, the solemn ideals of Remembrance Day are extremely important to me.

When I was a child growing up in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Remembrance Day was a day-off holiday. I remember vividly going to the cenotaph by the falls with my parents to watch the parade. The numbers of World War II and Korean veterans were great as was the attendance of thousands of grateful citizens assembled along the streets and around the cenotaph. These veterans, this solemn act of community remembrance, and the honour in it resonated in me, providing inspiration to me as a young boy and, as I grew into a young man, the understanding that I too should answer the call to national service, to volunteer to serve my nation as did those who proudly marched on the streets of Niagara when I was a child.

I have come here today primarily to speak to the sacred obligation that parliamentarians have to those who tread in harm's way, and by doing so, define the very essence of this bill: the need for formal legislative recognition of national sacrifice and the legislative mandate that I hope you will resolve in an apolitical manner.

I would suggest this is a wonderful opportunity for parliamentarians to embrace this sacred obligation to honour national sacrifice in a significant and meaningful manner. There is so much that we as a nation can do to honour the fallen, the wounded, our veterans, and serving members, but there must be inclusion, recognition, the understanding of national sacrifice. Equally important is the opportunity for Canadians, as I did as a child, to participate in our national services as a family unit to embrace the spirit of the nation as a community, despite the fact that the return of that day off will have to be discussed at the provincial level. I understand that. It is important that the words of the Holidays Act do not demean Remembrance Day.

After we have assembled to honour the fallen on the 11th minute, the 11th hour, after we have said our prayers, laid our poppies at cenotaphs across the nation, a national holiday provides the platform to honour the living, those who have survived the horror of war and peace, and the families of the fallen to ensure they understand that their sacrifice will also be remembered and honoured.

When we break down this bill to its most common denominator, it's fundamentally about respect: respect for the fallen, respect for the wounded, respect for our veterans, and those who serve today in Iraq and in the skies over Syria. These are Canada's sons and daughters. They have volunteered selflessly to serve us, to protect us in war, peace, and national calamity. Let us collectively and with sincerity demonstrate our respect by fixing the Holidays Act to ensure Remembrance Day, already a national holiday, continues to honour their service and sacrifice. They have done their duty for us; let us do our duty to honour them.

To that end I would respectfully ask all parliamentarians to place political ideology aside and avail themselves of the opportunity to honour Canada's sons and daughters by submitting this legislation that will bring to Remembrance Day, arguably our most important national holiday, the respect it deserves and give veterans the respect they deserve.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you very much, Mr. Blais.

We'll now go to Mr. White and Mr. Clark. You have up to eight minutes between you.

Mr. White, you have the floor.

[Bradley K. White, Dominion Secretary, Dominion Command, Royal Canadian Legion]

Thank you.

Honourable Chairman and members of the committee, good afternoon and thank you for the invitation to appear before you today on behalf of the Royal Canadian Legion on Bill C-597.

On behalf of our Dominion president, Comrade Tom Eagles, and our 300,000 members, it is our pleasure to be here.

I am Brad White. I'm the Dominion secretary of the Royal Canadian Legion. I arrived at the Legion in 1998 and I've been involved in just about every major commemorative activity that the Legion has been engaged in, as well as being the director of the national Remembrance Day ceremony.

Accompanying me today is Steven Clark. He is my director of administration and he is now the director of the national ceremony.

I will be speaking against the proposed amendment to Bill C-597 to make November 11 a legal holiday.

The Legion's activity work related to Remembrance Day dates back to our inaugural Dominion Convention in 1926 when we first proposed to the government that Armistice Day be observed on the 11th of November rather than on the Monday in the week in which that date fell. The advocacy was successful and resulted in the Armistice Day act amendment in 1931. In the ensuing years, Remembrance Day has been incorporated into the Holidays Act and is a federally recognized holiday for all federal offices and federally regulated employees. While this is not binding on the provinces, some jurisdictions have followed suit.

The Legion's position on this issue is our concern that Canadians, if given the time off as a legal holiday, will not take the time to remember. It may simply become another long weekend or mid-week break. This position was most recently reinforced by our national delegates at our national convention in 2012. It is paramount that the significance of Remembrance Day be inculcated in our youth and the general population to show their respect for the sacrifices of our fallen.

To honour this day, many schools hold assemblies where they organize their own commemoration. Others take their students to participate in ceremonies at local cenotaphs, thereby strengthening the impact of the significance of the 11th of November. The Legion works very closely with schools throughout the country to provide an educational component to Remembrance Day. In addition to welcoming classes at our ceremonies, we also have a very well-renowned teachers' guide on our website. It is an excellent teaching facility and a tool, and it has been downloaded more than a million times from our website.

So too are we encouraged to hear of organized commemorations in workplaces on the 11th of November. We need to make honouring and remembering an important part of our regular routine on that day and not simply provide a day off from school or work. We need only to look at Victoria Day, a legal holiday, to question what observances are being held across the country to honour Canada's longest-serving monarch. For most, it provides a long weekend in May. We must not let Remembrance Day suffer the same fate.

In regard to the half-masting of the Canadian flag on the 11th of November, it is the current policy to half-mast the flag on all federal buildings in Canada from sunrise to sunset. With respect to the Peace Tower, provision exists to half-mast the Canadian flag at 11 a.m. on the 11th of November, which coincides with the start of the two minutes of silence during the national Remembrance Day ceremony. It remains in that position until sunset. It is our position that this current practice should remain unchanged and intact.

We thank you again for giving us this opportunity to provide our comments on Bill C-597.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you very much.

We'll now move to questions, and we'll go to Mr. Clarke for seven minutes.

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank the witnesses for coming, and Gary, one of our colleagues, as well.

I'm really torn on this. For myself, when I was a kid, both my parents were Legion members. They both served in the air force. My father was a Legion president in Gibsons, British Columbia, then also in Slocan, where I still have Legion membership. My mom was the ladies auxiliary president as well. When the Legions were actually being built in the small communities of Slocan and Gibsons, I saw that they were paramount for the veterans. I remember as a five-year-old and six-year-old participating in Remembrance Day but also marching. My parents taught me how to march using the drum to lead the parade. A lot of my friends, through participating, got to know what actually transpired.

For myself, I joined the RCMP when I was 22 and served in the force for over 18 years. Being in the RCMP, I would attend the Remembrance Day ceremony. My detachment commander would ask members who would want to go, and I always wanted to go. I wanted to remember my family's contributions, my grandfathers', my brother's, in serving overseas. Having lived in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, where it is delegated not as a national stat but where everyone doesn't have to go to work, I don't look at it like that at all. I look at it as a day of remembrance.

Back on July 7, 2006, as detachment commander in Spiritwood, Saskatchewan, at 9:24 I faced the worst fear of any policeman's duty: a 10-33 call. It means an officer needs assistance. Shots were fired. Three of my members were shot and two passed away, right in my own detachment. Nothing is worse than having to go to a loved one's house, having to go to your neighbour's, an RCMP colleague's house, to tell them that their husband has just been shot.

So I'm really torn on this, because I look at it not as a holiday; I look at it as remembering, remembering those who fall. Whenever I give a speech, I talk about Marc Bourdages and Robin Cameron. These are the two members who fell and gave their lives trying to serve and protect Canadians in Canada. Police officers in Canada and people who wear the uniform and serve in the military know the risks. They know the challenges that face them if they do serve overseas. It's a well-known risk and everyone accepts that risk. If the Maker says it's your time to go, it's your time to go.

I'm listening to the Legion, to you, Steven, and you, Bradley, talking about the Legion. I remember as a kid going to the Legion meetings, going to the functions, going at Christmas and listening to the veterans talk about their participation overseas, going to Remembrance Days, and listening to the veterans there talk. The best knowledge we have is when the Legion opens its doors to the general public and they talk about what's going on, they talk about the challenges they faced or what they saw. It's one of the only times they ever talk, because it's their own environment. It's their own little community where they actually feel safe. They'll take a young child and bring them into a small room, and then the young child there will ask questions for everybody. I feel that at times that's probably the best way for some of the veterans actually to heal. I suffer from PTSD, but the more I talk about it the better I feel.

We talk about consultation. We talk about groups. You were talking in regard to Legions across the country. I belong to Branch 276 in Slocan, and I get a lot of mail. I get a lot of recommendations. I've never once seen any type of letter to the membership asking the membership what they feel or how they feel about a national holiday.

People say, “We stood up and we did this consultation.” Did you keep track of all the members who were asked? That's all I ask. That's probably the best way to go about it, by asking each Legion member or associate member how they feel about a national holiday. We hear about dollars and cents and how this is going to affect the economy. I don't think that's right. People put their lives in jeopardy and give up their lives to protect our country and other countries abroad. That's how I personally feel.

[Bradley K. White]

I am a third-generation military person, and I also spent a lot of time in Legions with my grandfather when I was a young child. I have two sons currently serving in the RCMP. You asked whether we ask or consult our members about how our policy is supposed to be formed. We do. Through the policy formation of the organization, branches actually raise those issues we're talking about today, and they're voted on at the national convention. The last time we did this, the matter was raised in 2012. This is not the first time it's been raised over the years, so we do consult our people all the way through.

As a serving member of the Canadian Forces, on Remembrance Day I would go to my child's school where I would give a presentation in French to the whole assembly of 600 people who would be gathered around. There would be other members of the Canadian Forces who would do the same thing at that time. There are still a lot of members of the Canadian Forces who are out in schools today.

Is the message of remembrance getting through? We hope it is, because we, as a nation, have a duty to remember those who have made sacrifices on our behalf.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you very much.

We'll now move to Mr. Harris for seven minutes.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, everyone, for coming today. I think we can all agree that we want to find the best way to honour our veterans and their sacrifice. I think we all have different opinions about how best to do that.

I want to start off with a quick question for Mr. Schellenberger.

Of course, yours was one of the two “nay” votes at second reading, and I want to thank you for that because I have often been a holder of minority opinions. Sometimes they're not the most popular things, but it's always good to have those differences of opinion out there.

You raised the question about how, if it becomes a holiday, some of the meaning could be lost. However, one of your colleagues at the last meeting here, Scott Armstrong, said that in Nova Scotia, when they brought in the Remembrance Day Act, they actually saw attendance at ceremonies go up. I think that part of the discussion about whether it should be a statutory holiday in each province would be better had by the provinces themselves. Currently it is a holiday in six provinces and three territories. It isn't in Ontario and Quebec, and Manitoba has gone in its own direction and businesses have to be shut down until one. Nova Scotia has its own Remembrance Day Act.

Do you think it's possible, perhaps, that we could actually see attendance at ceremonies go up if people have the time available?

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Over the last 12 years that I've been a member of Parliament, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, I've gone to Stratford. I've been to at least 12 wreath-laying ceremonies there. I go to Stratford primarily because it's my biggest municipality. I go to other ceremonies too, sometimes on weekends or on that particular day but a little bit later.

Remembrance Day doesn't always fall on a weekday. It falls on weekends. Often, on Saturdays and Sundays, you don't have as many people out to the ceremonies as you would have during the week. I don't know why that is, but I have observed that.

I have gone many times to assemblies. At one school, Stratford Central Secondary School, before the service on Remembrance Day, 900 students assemble and they put on a wonderful tribute, a wonderful remembrance. I can guarantee you that if it were a statutory holiday, 75% to 80% of those students would be at home, either in bed or doing something else on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

It's certainly a possibility, and going back to the parents, if they believe, I think it would be their responsibility to get them out of bed. Of course, if Remembrance Days falls on the weekend, do you think fewer Stratford folks go? The schools do their ceremonies the day before, typically, so I don't think we would lose that. Certainly that's what happens in schools where it is a statutory holiday.

Quickly, Mr. White, you said that you go to your child's school on the 11th day to partake in sharing your experiences. If the ceremonies in the schools were the day before, would you not be able to go to the school and then also go to the ceremonies? Wouldn't that enhance your own remembrance?

[Bradley K. White]

I would. There's no doubt about it. I would go to the schools and make a presentation to the schools. I think what the issue comes down to is the concept of service and how we recognize service. A lot of us in this room have served. We have gone to different places. We understand the significance of remembrance. I would say that in the country right now we've seen a growth in remembrance. Since about the year 2000, each year the national ceremony seems to be getting bigger. There is a resurgence of remembrance.

However, those people who really work at remembrance are in a minority, so if you gave the majority a day off, I would say that the majority might take advantage of that and not put any sort of significance towards the remembrance aspect. There are people who are in the minority, like us, who continue to promote the aspects of remembrance.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

In that respect, I think those are the folks we should be focusing on in order to give everyone the opportunity to go and pay their respects. For any holiday we create, for any reason, many people are going to use it for different purposes, unfortunately, and that's the reality with every other holiday that exists.

I want to move on to Mr. Blais, because I'll be running out of time and I have a couple of questions I want to ask.

First, you mentioned honouring the living. I wanted to ask you to elaborate on that. Also, despite the fact that this bill does not create a day off in the provinces that don't have it as such, I think it likely has the potential to spark a debate, as we saw last November, about doing just that. In provinces such as Ontario, for example, our province, if Ontario did eventually decide to reinstate this day off, do you feel that it would encourage Canadians to embrace the spirit, as you say, or would they simply stay at home and play video games?

[Michael Blais]

I think the spirit is alive and well, and that after 12 years of vicious combat in Afghanistan and 158 trips down the Highway of Heroes, that spirit is very strong.

I say “honour the living”, as you know, and I mentioned that when we take our poppies off we've fulfilled our obligation to the dead. But there are still people out here who are lacking limbs, minds, and souls, and who deserve respect. I believe in my heart that the nation will rally, that we can provide.... For example, in hockey we have six NHL teams here. We can make Remembrance Day stretch. From two o'clock in the afternoon.... Be respectful and let the veterans go with their friends and have lunch, but at two o'clock it starts, and every veteran in that community, whether it's NHL, whether it's AHL, whether it's your local B team, it doesn't matter, because we're bringing those veterans forward in Iraq with your kids and my kids.

This is where the spirit lives. We have basketball.... We could offer movies for free for veterans and stuff, but most important—and I believe this—we mentioned parents. Where are the parents of Canada's children today? Why do they not have the right to do like I wanted to do, which is to take their child out of school and enrich him or her and expose him or her to the experience of standing at that cenotaph and watching grown men cry in remembering their friends and feeling the spirt of the nation rise?

I think we're missing the boat. We're complaining that there won't be any people showing up. That's not the point. The point is respect: respect and to pay that respect. As a community, we can rally to extraordinary levels. There's so much opportunity. If Veterans Affairs Canada took the lead on this and, instead of putting on rinky-dink commercials about going to work, put on commercials about sacrifice, about encouraging professional sports teams to embrace this concept every Remembrance Day, bringing out the nation as a whole, unified, proud, and free, I would suggest to you that the spirit in the nation would be alive and well for this generation, the next generation, and every generation forward from that time.