Evidence of meeting #46 for Veterans Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was remembrance.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:20 a.m.
Conservative
9:20 a.m.
Liberal
Frank Valeriote Liberal Guelph, ON
—what you said. That's the point. There's an intention here among some to perpetuate the confusion, when we know for certain that this does not create a statutory holiday. I would ask the member to not complicate it.
9:20 a.m.
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Peter Stoffer
Mr. Lemieux, one moment, please.
Mr. Valeriote, in my experience, that's not necessarily a point of order; it's more a point of debate. The opposition will have their opportunity to speak once again, but I will allow Mr. Lemieux a few more seconds to wrap up his point.
9:20 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Lemieux Conservative Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
I'll take a few more seconds to adjust that point.
I said “affected”, and clearly affected, because we have the school board—
9:20 a.m.
Conservative
9:20 a.m.
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Peter Stoffer
I realize that, sir, but you should be addressing the witnesses, not necessarily—
9:20 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Lemieux Conservative Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
I am. I'm looking right at the witness from the school board—
9:20 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Lemieux Conservative Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
—and I'm saying “affected”, because the school board is here and has written a letter saying that this will affect children in school and it will affect the schools.
I will leave my case there. Thank you.
9:20 a.m.
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Peter Stoffer
Okay.
Ms. Gallo, did you wish to respond in any way to Mr. Lemieux's comments?
9:20 a.m.
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Peter Stoffer
Okay, very good. Thank you.
We'll now move on to Mr. Harris again, please, for five minutes.
9:20 a.m.
NDP
Dan Harris NDP Scarborough Southwest, ON
Thank you very much.
I'd like to clear up a couple of things that Mr. Lemieux said. He said that adding the word “legal” was an amendment. No amendments have been made to this bill. The bill is in its original form that was submitted to the House. The current Holidays Act lists Canada Day and Victoria Day as legal holidays, and lists Remembrance Day as a holiday. That is where the interpretation that it could be seen as a lesser holiday than the other holidays...because it is worded differently in the Holidays Act that was passed in 1972.
I certainly agree with the Legion with respect to Victoria Day. Not many people use it to observe or revere our longest-serving monarch, but it also might surprise people to know that several provinces do not celebrate Victoria Day, or they celebrate by a different name and for a different purpose.
Canada Day is the only one that is universally agreed on by all the provinces and territories. Certainly, all the provinces can choose to do their own thing with respect to Remembrance Day because they're the ones that have the power to make statutory holidays.
I was very glad to hear Ms. Gallo, after questions from Mr. Valeriote, say that if it was clear that it didn't create a statutory holiday, their position would likely change because the reality is that this doesn't impact the school boards in forcing anybody to close. That was one of the primary reasons why I did not consult school boards across the country, because statutory holidays are at the provincial level.
There were wide attempts to get in touch with the Legion. My office wrote a letter to every Legion branch in the country. We sent letters to different veterans organizations. We were out on the Internet asking questions and consulting with people all over the place. I even spoke to Canadian Forces members while I was on my honeymoon on a ship in Alaska. I found it very interesting that serving members of the navy were choosing to go on cruises for their vacations. It just shows how much they love the sea.
Certainly, there were many attempts to get in touch with Dominion Command. Mr White asked me last week if I could forward him some of those communication attempts, and I do have some emails. They're not going to be submitted to committee because they're not in both official languages, but the communications started on September 6, 2013, and they were primarily through Bruce Poulin. I don't have ready records of the phone conversations that took place, but there were several attempts over a six-month period to speak to Dominion Command before the bill was tabled.
Mr. Blais, you've spoken about the equality of other federal holidays. Maybe the word “legal” is one of the big, confusing things that exist here. My proposal in the bill is to add “legal” to Remembrance Day. On the flip side, we could remove the word “legal” from the other two, and then they'd all just be listed as national holidays. Do you think that would help alleviate confusion?
9:25 a.m.
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
I don't know. I think people are deliberately trying to confuse the issue. I read it and there were no problems. Everyone I've spoken to when it was clearly defined that this was not a statutory holiday and that it was about equality, including that young fellow who's manning the war memorial right now, agreed that this was the proper way to go forward, that there must be equality.
This reference to Victoria Day I find disingenuous. Do we not light fireworks across the nation every Victoria Day evening? What are we celebrating? We're celebrating her reign. My regiment celebrates it—Victoria Regina Imperatrix. Why else wear our hat badge?
The spirit of the nation is alive, but it's up to this government to ensure that spirit is fulfilled, as in Victoria Day, as in Canada Day, and as in Remembrance Day. You have the opportunity not only to celebrate on the 11th hour, but to expand that reach. Yes, we lay our poppies on the 11th hour, we pay respects to the dead, but the rest of the day we try to pay respects to the living. You have a wonderful opportunity to make that happen.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Peter Stoffer
Mr. Blais, thank you very much.
Now we move on to Mr. Lizon, please, for five minutes.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Wladyslaw Lizon Conservative Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses who are here today.
Mr. Chair, I am trying to understand what we are arguing here. For the record, and for the information of witnesses, there are only five statutory holidays that are celebrated by all provinces in Canada.
We are a federation. Therefore, provinces have the power to adopt a national or federal holiday or not. These five holidays are New Year's Day, Good Friday, Canada Day—with the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador, which calls it Memorial Day—Labour Day, and Christmas Day. The others are observed in some provinces but not in others. Therefore, they are not statutory holidays in all the provinces.
November 11 is already a statutory holiday in seven provinces and three territories. The only exceptions are Ontario, Quebec and, if I have the right information, Nova Scotia.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Wladyslaw Lizon Conservative Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON
I am just trying to understand how renaming Remembrance Day to a legal holiday would change anything. It is already a statutory holiday in seven provinces and three territories. Therefore, I don't know what we are trying to achieve here and how we are going to achieve it.
I love Remembrance Day. In Ontario, it is not a statutory holiday. It actually is a statutory holiday for federal employees. Therefore, it is elevated already. Federal employees have a day off.
I love going to schools. I wish more schools would take an active part in doing something on that day. Some schools do and some don't. I love going to schools. Usually there is a veteran there and students have a chance to meet and hear the history.
I would like to hear your opinions because I don't understand. What will this change? After what I heard, and after reading the part of the bill about trying to make it a legal holiday, I don't know. Can someone tell me or define what that legal holiday would be? How would it be different from what we have now? Would other provinces jump in and declare a legal holiday? I am confused, to be honest. I am looking for some answers.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Wladyslaw Lizon Conservative Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON
Whoever would like to comment on it....
9:30 a.m.
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Peter Stoffer
Mr. White, if you would like to clarify Mr. Lizon's confusion, that would be great. Thank you.
9:30 a.m.
Dominion Secretary, Dominion Command, Royal Canadian Legion
I would love to try to clarify the confusion because that is exactly the issue that we are asking about as well.
From coast to coast to coast, Canadians recognize November 11 as Remembrance Day. We all celebrate Remembrance Day. As a parent and as a service member, I took great joy in going to my sons' schools, to their Remembrance assemblies, wearing my uniform and medals, and talking about what Remembrance Day was all about and why.
I am third-generation military. We have a long history in our family about Remembrance Day, and we remember. That is why we celebrate it. That is why we commemorate it, because we remember the sacrifices that were made.
I guess I have the same question that you have. Why are we doing this? We already understand November 11 as being Remembrance Day. Why do we need to designate it as a holiday under the Holidays Act? That is really what the question is.