My name is Bob Bratina. I'm the member of Parliament for Hamilton East—Stoney Creek. I was the mayor of Hamilton.
As the mayor of Hamilton I was the only mayor in Canada who had a senior advisor on military heritage and protocol, because Hamilton has a tremendous military heritage coming right up to the present day. But it had started to be forgotten to the point where the cenotaph where Remembrance Day is held was actually crumbling and in danger of falling down. We have completely rebuilt and rededicated that area and it's called Veterans' Place now.
The gentleman who was on my staff as an advisor for military heritage and protocol was the commanding officer of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. The sad irony, given my wish to reacquaint Hamiltonians with their military heritage, was to have faced the very sad occasion of the loss of Nathan Cirillo's life at the National War Memorial, and all that entailed.
It's a very important thing for me.
I have a 95-year-old Dieppe veteran and I have 26-year-old Afghanistan veteran and other veterans in my city, and we intend to see that they're looked after.