Thank you.
To the Historica-Dominion, I'm quite passionate about the military. My son was in the last combat mission in Afghanistan with the Van Doos, which was interesting because he's from Edmonton, out of 1 CER. There was a little bit of a challenge, shall we say, between the two languages, but when under combat, language seems to be the secondary instrument to ensuring everyone understands what they're doing.
One of the things that I think we could work toward in 2017, Mr. Chair, is to expand upon how important it has been for our military beyond 1812, so from the First World War to the present, and the input that not only our English-speaking but our French-speaking forces have had in the wars. The Van Doos have been around since 1914. They were formed in 1869, but classified as the Royal 22nd in 1914.
It would seem appropriate to me, Mr. Chair, that we really work toward explaining how important both official languages have been to the military in all of the combat we have participated in. When we look at 1812, although it is a very significant event, I would suggest that the other conflicts that we've been in throughout the years have been just as important. We sometimes fail to recognize that.
I want your comments on how we can better explain the importance of Canada's official languages within the context of military conflict.