No. I believe Mr. Vickers, the Sergeant-at-Arms, and I discussed it beforehand. He is here in the event that there are some questions that require an authoritative response.
Thank you very much for the opportunity of speaking with you this afternoon.
This is truly a great pleasure. It is the first time that I am appearing before a parliamentary committee. I'm not as nervous as I thought I would be.
Following the receipt of the letter the Speaker sent to Mr. Anders last year, a fair amount of consideration was given as to how we could go about providing appropriate decoration for this particular room and for this particular committee. I think the key word in all of that is “appropriate”, in the sense that, as the committee members made very clear last year--I was present during that presentation--they had a sincere desire to make a variety of witnesses, covering a whole range of the field, comfortable when they came into this room, that somehow there'd be
something that most people could immediately identify with, either because it related to their past or at least their life.
A number of things were mentioned by members of the committee during the meeting regarding what you had experienced in other locations. I remember one member referred to armour, and another person referred to paintings and the like. I took those to note and started examining some of the possibilities about how this particular room could be enhanced and decorated in a manner that would be suitable for the committee's work, and also for the witnesses.
One option was to pursue
the same idea that was used in room 362 in the East Block, the War Room. We could purchase three or four reproductions of artwork contained in the Beaverbrook military art collection in the Canadian War Museum and have them installed in the room.
However, I had to ask myself if that option would add something to the room and would be appropriate. I concluded that it was not the best idea, considering the space under consideration. Because we can only use two walls, only two reproductions can be installed. Normally the curtains can be drawn. The space behind is not an ideal one to exhibit reproductions of artwork. Because our collection does not include any pieces related to veterans, we can't really use them.
So what's the problem, and how is this room used? As Madam O'Brien mentioned, the room is used for a variety of different purposes. The furniture is changed frequently, which creates problems for displaying objects in cases. If we were to borrow anything from a museum, we would have to place it in a case; it's that simple.
A second option arose, in consideration of the building itself and the fact that this is one of the 48 special rooms in the building. There are 48 very special rooms that receive a much higher quality of decoration than others. So if we looked at the idea of a Gothic building, what are some of the elements one has in a Gothic building? The first thing that came to mind was carving and sculpture, and that we could install a series of sculptures and sculptural elements in the wooden panelling around the room.
I spoke with the federal sculptor, the individual who is responsible for maintaining and creating the sculpture both within and outside of the building, and we discussed what we could install. The recommended option I encourage the committee to consider is that we undertake to remove four of the oak panels that are currently in this room in prominent locations that are in clear view of witnesses. Those panels would be placed in storage--which is important for us, so they could be reused one day--and four new panels, similar in quality and colour, would be installed. They would feature the four service insignia of the Canadian armed forces: the Department of National Defence, the navy, the air force, and the army. Large, high-relief sculptures would be carved directly into the wood you see in the room.
My father and many of my uncles, like many people of this country, were in the armed forces during the Second World War. I have many friends who were in the armed forces, and one of the things that struck me when I spoke to a couple of them was that they identify with the service insignia. Those service insignia change over time, but people continue to identify with them. At the same time, they cut across issues of gender and location. People immediately identify with them--even family members.
The idea is that we would proceed with this project and have the four insignia carved into panels. It would be done by the federal sculptor, and would be a permanent fixture in this room.
If the committee agrees with the proposal,
the work would be completed before September 2009, according to Mr. White, the sculptor I spoke with. Furthermore, because this would be a part of the sculpture program for the Centre Block, there would be no extra costs incurred by the project.
That is my recommendation. I believe you all have examples of what the insignia would look like. These would be verified by the Department of National Defence before they were carved.
