Veterans Affairs Committee on Sept. 17th, 2009

[Derek Sullivan]

Actually, we have been partners with both organizations for many years. They are or were the two leading non-governmental organizations promoting Canadian history and citizenship in many, many ways across the country. Their purposes and objectives have been quite similar for many years, and they began to talk some time ago about combining forces and having one plus one make three.

Effective September 1, they have joined together. The boards of directors of the two organizations agreed to form a new organization. Their national office is in Toronto, where both organizations previously had their national offices. They have moved or are moving this month into new accommodations in Toronto. They will continue to have an office here in Ottawa at the Terry Fox Canadian Youth Centre, just off St. Laurent Boulevard, for the Encounters with Canada program. And they will continue to have an office in Edmonton. Historica became the owners of The Canadian Encyclopedia some years ago, so they will continue to have an office in Edmonton for that encyclopedia.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Mr. Sullivan.

Now it's over to the Bloc Québécois for five minutes.

Monsieur Gaudet.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This will not take that long.

I suggest that we observe Remembrance Day on November 11. If November 11 falls on a Monday, we observe the occasion on the Monday, since all members have the day off. If it falls on a Tuesday, it should be observed on the Tuesday. If it falls during the week, we could invite children. In my riding, we observe this day on Saturday or Sunday, and there are no children. Simple as that.

So it should be observed on the actual day, just like Canada Day and Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, the Fête nationale du Québec. Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day is celebrated on June 24 and Canada Day on July 1. Similarly, it should be November 11 for Remembrance Day. That is how it should work. If it fell on a Saturday or Sunday, we probably would not have any children, but if it fell on a weekday, schoolchildren could come and take part in the procession and ceremony. That is my suggestion.

I just have one question for you. Would it be possible to give every member a certain number of lapel pins, bookmarks and tattoos so that they could give them to a legion—not huge quantities, but 20 or 25 or so? I know that veterans and legion members really appreciate having lapel pins, bookmarks and the like. It brings back memories for them.

Thank you.

[Derek Sullivan]

Lapel pins are available in legions across Canada, but legions have their own lapel pins and several other promotional products for Remembrance Day.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

A number of veterans do not have the lapel pin you are wearing. They could be given lapel pins and bookmarks.

[Derek Sullivan]

Legions can order the lapel pins from the department.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

I recommend that you give them to members, who could then give them to the legions. That might be a better idea since the items could be put away in a drawer somewhere and never end up being distributed. That is my personal opinion.

[Derek Sullivan]

Fine.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Mr. Gaudet and Mr. Sullivan.

Mr. McColeman, you have five minutes.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Thank you.

I would echo everyone else's comments from around the table, Mr. Sullivan, that the work you're doing is immensely important. Certainly the comprehensive nature of what's been put together is fantastic.

You know, I'm very fortunate to represent a riding that has been very active on many fronts for veterans. I just want to mention a couple of ideas that have worked really well in our riding.

One of them is what we call our Thank-A-Vet Luncheon. We hold this every year. Approximately 800 people show up to this event. It's turned into a very big event in our community. We actually get corporate sponsors, so it's at no charge to the vets. We send them complimentary tickets and we take a couple of hours during Veterans' Week to honour them. They're so appreciative. It's become a local event of such importance that many organizations want to get involved with it.

I would be very happy to pass it along as a template to your department. There may be other communities that want to consider it. Certainly it's something that is looked forward to year after year. The minister came two years ago to the event and was part of it, so it's been recognized at a national level as well.

Secondly, I want to echo Larry's comments about high schools doing just an unbelievable job. We also have a high school in our community, St. John’s, that does a spectacular job. It holds the finest events I've ever been to in honour of veterans.

Those are the types of things out there that other communities could be doing, I think, of course in addition to the great work that you're doing. I'm not suggesting that you should take these ideas and move them across the country, but I think other MPs should know about them. Certainly they are available for anyone to do.

In that regard, I'd like to know a little bit more about the candlelight tribute. Can you give me more details on who organizes that and what it's all about? I'm just looking for a little more detail on it.

[Derek Sullivan]

I agree entirely about some of the things that are happening in schools across the country. They are outstanding events, and the best ones often are when the students themselves have organized them. They are the most moving. They're fantastic.

This includes our overseas events, which some of the members of the committee have participated in. Each time we have had an event organized by the youth on the delegation—not always, but where we've had larger numbers of youth—those have been, without exception, the most emotional events of the overall trip.

We do, in fact, spread ideas across the country. We do try to accumulate them and then disseminate them. No one part of the country has a monopoly on good ideas, so we try to spread those across the country as much as possible.

The candlelight tributes take place in many communities across the country. Each time, they're somewhat different. Each organization tailors it to what suits their needs.

The one that takes place here in Ottawa actually pairs a veteran and a young person. They together take a candle up and place it.

In other cases, they do it in cemeteries across the country where veterans' graves are in great numbers. They place the candle at dusk in front of each veteran's grave in the cemetery. The candle burns all night, or for a period of time, and they recover the candles to use them again in the future.

Each of these is somewhat different across the country. All are very moving.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Excellent.

On the tribute to the Italian campaign, you mentioned a delegation going to Italy. Is there anything else planned?

In my community, and in a lot of communities, we have a very large Italian population. Is there anything planned that could be used within communities?

[Derek Sullivan]

Yes. Our staff across the country have worked with many community groups in organizing and supporting Veterans' Week activities, some of which take place three or four weeks before Veterans' Week but are under that umbrella. They sometimes look for ideas as to what the event can focus on. We encourage them each year to focus on some of the major anniversaries taking place in that year. This year, we encourage them to focus on the Italian campaign, as well as D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, the 65th anniversary of which was this summer. We provide them with printed material, with ideas on how they can do that. Understanding the history usually gives them ideas on how they will do it in their community.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

When you say “they”, do you mean the legions?

[Derek Sullivan]

I mean legions and many other community groups.

Legions and other veterans organizations are absolutely leaders in remembrance across the country, but they are not the only leaders in remembrance. Big Brothers Big Sisters, scouts, cadets, guides, and so many other youth and community organizations, rotary clubs across the country, and other service clubs--almost all of them organize activities during or around Veterans' Week. I know the number of invitations we receive to participate or to speak at those increases every year, so there are many groups that do that.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you.

Madam Foote, although this apparently is going to be brief, you have five minutes.

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

I have two questions.

One, where do we go to get the material for our householders?

Secondly, on the contest, I know the deadline will vary from legion to legion, but what is the deadline for the provincial commands to get the material to Ottawa?

[Derek Sullivan]

I'm afraid I have no information. That is entirely run by the legion. Our part in this is to distribute their material to the 22,000 addressees—the 16,000 schools and the 6,000 other groups. Beyond that, I just don't have the information on that. I'm sorry.

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

So we'd get that on their website.

[Derek Sullivan]

On the householders, I'd suggest that the best route would be to contact the minister's office and they can provide information. That would come through the minister's office, I would think.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Now we'll go back to the Conservative Party, for five minutes.

Mr. Lobb.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Sullivan, we know where we are today as far as Canada Remembers is concerned. There has been quite a nice job done to date.

Where do you see the future, when you're looking out five, seven, or ten years, with Canada Remembers? How are you going to adapt and change, as obviously things change with our veterans? Could you just enlighten our committee on what you see moving forward?

[Derek Sullivan]

That's an excellent question. We're in fact devoting quite a bit of our attention to determining how we continue to evolve the activities of Canada Remembers, as both the nature of the veterans currently alive in the country changes and also the approach to dealing with Canadians.

We are evolving. I mentioned our increased use of the Internet and our support of young people using the Internet in their own ways to spread the word of remembrance. That's a part of the strategy.

Another part is that at the request or suggestion of veterans organizations over the last few years, we have made the size of our overseas delegations smaller and we have taken those resources and reinvested them in Canada, where both veterans and Canadians are. We have been doing that. The delegations are now smaller. We have had many more activities across the country and are providing more support to community organizations across the country, financial support as well as in-kind support.

The other thing we're doing at the moment is we are consulting with both Canadian Forces members and Canadian Forces veterans to find out how they see themselves being remembered. It's important that as the nature of the veterans who are with us changes, we are doing things in a way that is meaningful to them. So we are developing a strategy, not just for inclusion but also for honouring the modern-day veterans in ways that work for them.

We are also updating our strategy for youth engagement, taking account of the newer technologies. We have been doing that, but we have to do it continually, because the technology changes much more quickly than government does. Every time government tries to be cool with the technology, it becomes really cool with the technology that was current three years ago. So what we try to do is make the materials and the ideas available to young people and then, in many cases, get out of the way, because they know what to do. I have a 15-year-old and a 20-year-old. When I have trouble figuring stuff out, they are where I go. They are my help desk. The number of things my 15-year-old and her friends do on YouTube and Facebook and some of these other sites is remarkable. It's tremendous stuff. All we need to do is to try to channel some of that energy and enthusiasm in the direction of remembrance. Awareness and encouragement and support are what we can do with that.

Is that a partial answer to your question?

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

That's good, and I think your use of three years as a benchmark was generous.

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