That was a 2006 campaign of the Dominion Institute. That would probably be a perfect example of the kind of advocacy work that we take on. We developed an online petition and a media campaign asking the government to offer a state funeral to the last World War I veteran when he passes away.
We had the opportunity, Jeremy and I, to meet Mr. Babcock last January. He's an amazing man. Over 90,000 people signed the petition in five days and then the House of Commons adopted its motion.
We will be front and centre whenever that sad day comes. It will be an event of national significance, I think, not particularly for Mr. Babcock but for what he represents for the thousands of Canadian soldiers who passed away before him, and for the importance and the impact that the First World War had on Canada and how it really shaped Canada. I think there will be what you would call a teachable moment there, in a sense, and an opportunity, and I hope that we will as a country take the moment to reflect, to commemorate, and to remember, whenever that sad day comes, what Canada's role in the First World War was.
The stories of the Second World War project that we're doing at the moment, which is a project to record the oral history of Second World War veterans, is part of the lessons learned from the First World War. As a country, we waited too long to record the stories, to capture the memories, and to create a legacy of the First World War, and now that moment has passed us by.
We can't let that happen again. This is something that the Historica-Dominion Institute feels very strongly about. There is an opportunity now. Our veterans of the Second World War are 87 years old, on average, and the time to do it is now. Otherwise, we will find in 15 or 20 years that it is largely too late.