I call the meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 31 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, the committee is meeting to study the situation of francophones and indigenous people in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person and remotely using the Zoom application.
Before we continue, I ask participants to consult the guidelines on the table. These measures are to help prevent audio and feedback incidences and to protect the health and safety of our interpreters.
I'd like to remind witnesses and members to please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. If you wish to speak, please raise your hand, and for those on Zoom please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can.
For interpretation, use your earpiece and select the appropriate channel of floor, English or French, which are also available on Zoom.
I'd now like to welcome our witnesses.
We have Grazia Scoppio, professor emerita of defence studies, Royal Military College of Canada, by video conference. We have Danielle Teillet with us here live, a historian on indigenous military history. We have Dr. P. Whitney Lackenbauer, professor and Canada research chair in the study of the Canadian north, also by video conference. We have Peter Kikkert, associate professor, public policy and governance, Brian Mulroney Institute of Government, also by video conference.
I'll pass it over first to Grazia, and then to Danielle and Dr. P. Whitney Lackenbauer. We'll end with Peter Kikkert. You all have up to five minutes.
Ms. Grazia Scoppio, it's over to you, please.