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.