Absolutely. As was said, the Invictus Games are really a celebration of the efforts and the sacrifice that our vets have made for our country. What it allows us to do is that bridge between active participation in the military and active participation in life.
Here is a tiny little history lesson. The Paralympic movement itself was actually born out of an initiative in the U.K. to help wounded war vets rehabilitate, and they recognized very quickly in the early 20th century that a really impactful way of doing this was by providing sport and recreational opportunities to veterans. That snowballed into what is today a very well-respected and high-performance sport movement around the world.
The Invictus Games allow us to bring together athletes from a number of countries—mainly in the Commonwealth, but around the world—to celebrate the accomplishments of these military men and women, and do it through sport.
If you recall, money was allocated to the Invictus Games through budget 2016, but what they are going to build around, in Toronto in 2017, is both a celebration of sport and a celebration of the contributions of military women and men who serve across the world.
The other thing is that they are going to be hosting two conferences around this event. The first one is the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research conference, which will bring together more than a thousand academics and researchers from around the world. This conference is specifically focused on the mental and physical health of our military, veterans, and their families.
The second is the True Patriot Love foundation's international symposium, which brings together foundations, veterans, advocate groups, and primary caregivers to discuss the state of military families today.
It's something I think we should be very proud, as Canadians, to host next year. I think there is a wonderful symmetry between hosting this event in 2017 and it being our 150th birthday.