Canadian Heritage Committee on April 20th, 2015

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

No, it's not, Mr. Chair. We agreed at the last meeting, and it's in the notes that have been sent to us from the library. It's not a point of debate; it's a point of fact.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

I'm going to rule that it's a point of debate.

Mr. Young, you have the floor, and you stopped at about five minutes and 10 seconds.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Thank you.

Mr. Blais, would you like to go ahead or should I repeat the question?

[Michael Blais]

No, the point is that we're here for a reason. You have an obligation at the federal level. You can fulfill that obligation quite easily without jeopardizing statutes or laws or anything. You can raise that national level. On a secondary level, that's a provincial statutory issue that we have to deal with. While the other organizations may feel it's fine, I do not. I consult, period. We are completely based on consultation. I talked to the older veterans, and you're right, there is division there. They don't understand. But I also talk to many veterans who served not in my time, but the time after that time, and those who have offered great sacrifice, and many feel that their government is not honouring that sacrifice.

I truly believe this is your opportunity. Embrace it.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

I understand, and you made that case passionately and I listened carefully. Is there some other way to provide formal recognition that is significant and meaningful?

[Michael Blais]

At a parliamentary level, no, there's not. This is about you. This is about Parliament, the 308 parliamentarians sitting in the House of Commons. This is about your fulfilling your obligation to those who have done their duty for you.

We talked about this and that and small businesses, yada, yada, yada. It's not important. What is important is that we fulfill the obligation at this level.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Mr. Chair, is there any time?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

You have about 30 seconds left.

Mr. Clarke, do you have a quick question?

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

I have one question with regard to the membership. There's a difference between associate members, those who are the ones who haven't served, and regular members, who have served in the military or in the RCMP. How many people attended your annual general meeting? I'd just like to know those numbers. That's where the big difference can be. You're going to have people making decisions who haven't served, who don't understand the sacrifices that have taken place.

[Bradley K. White]

On an average basis...okay? What I'll explain to you is that the ordinary member, like me, has served in the Canadian Forces or the RCMP. Normally, the largest group of the membership are called associate members. Those are the family members of those who have served. Those who haven't served are called affiliates.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

I'm sorry, we're going to have to move on.

Right now we're going to go back to Mr. Harris for five minutes.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Thank you very much.

Going back to Mr. Blais, the Legion has come out as opposed to this bill. I was very disappointed that in the eight months leading up to my introducing this bill in Parliament, every single one of my calls to Dominion Command went unanswered. We tried several different people.

Do you have any thoughts about the Legion's opposition to this bill?

[Michael Blais]

It's not really my place, but I do. I think you're missing a valiant opportunity here at a Legion level to embrace the spirit of the nation, to stand forth. If I were Dominion president and you passed this bill, the first thing I would do is send in a letter to all my branch presidents saying we're going to embrace Remembrance Day this year. I want you to invite those kids. I want you to invite the RCMP detachments. I want you to invite your local militia regiments, and have trucks and things for kids to see, and feel, and breathe, and smell. That's where we go. That's a wonderful opportunity but it's being lost.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Just to get some clarity on this bill, because even after I asked him not to Mr. Young implied that it created a day off, Mr. White, do you understand that this does not in fact create a day off?

[Bradley K. White]

As I mentioned to you before, you can use any of the terminology you want to. As soon as you say a holiday—

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Sir, it's a simple yes or no.

[Bradley K. White]

I'm going to say no.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Chair, on a point of order, I don't mind Mr. Harris being direct in wanting to get a response to his questions, but we have witnesses we've invited to come here. I think they should be treated with the proper decorum and respect that they deserve, whether they are in favour or not in favour of the issue.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you. Mr. Harris.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

That sounded like debate to me.

We've just heard that the Legion says no to that question, so it was actually very important to ask that question because now we understand a little bit better that they don't understand that this does not in fact create a day off. That's a serious problem. We have the largest veterans' organization in the country that doesn't understand that this change does not in fact create a day off. I would say that actually taints the discussions, perhaps, that they've been having.

I'd like to ask, in 2012, when it came up at the national, and the question was raised, were there large regional divisions within the Legion? My understanding is that in many regions within the country the Legion actually supports this and the members support it. Other times that this bill or similar versions of this bill have been brought forward, it's actually been at the behest of some local Legions. Do you know if there are local or regional divisions with respect to who does and doesn't support it within the Legion?

[Bradley K. White]

I think that in any democratic organization, as we see in Parliament today, there are regional differences and divisions. The Legion is very much the same thing as what Parliament is. We have our regional differences. We have our regional issues. When these issues are debated, they're debated on those types of issues. Some people support; some people don't. At the bottom line of it the majority decides, and that's what a democracy's all about. We respect that decision and that vote.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Was it presented as whether it would be a statutory holiday or not? Is that how it was presented to vote?

[Bradley K. White]

Yes, it was.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Now I'll ask again, does this bill create a statutory holiday so that all Canadians would have the day off?

[Bradley K. White]

That would be unclear to me.