Thank you so much.
Evidence of meeting #22 for Veterans Affairs in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was museum.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #22 for Veterans Affairs in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was museum.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:45 p.m.
Liberal
5:45 p.m.
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm looking to the future, and I would pose this to all of our witnesses.
With some of the commemoration ceremonies you have planned, the difficulty is knowing whether the things are going to be open, whether we're going to be able to plan for these types of commemorations. Going forward, what are some of the plans with respect to each individual organization as it relates to commemoration of some of the more significant events that affect our military?
Caitlin, do you want to start again?
5:45 p.m.
Executive Director, The Vimy Foundation
Thank you so much, John. Yes, I'm happy to start.
Our first, which will be Vimy 105, will be next year. It's hard to believe we're already five years out from the centennial.
5:45 p.m.
Conservative
5:45 p.m.
Executive Director, The Vimy Foundation
So was I. I was in a tent. I'd never want to go back to that tent, but it's hard to believe that we were there.
Our 105 initiative is Vimy: A Living Memorial, which is a digital project. It is an app that will explore the Vimy site. We're working with the European operations team to do that. In addition there will be a digital commemoration space, which we're building with the National Film Board of Canada. It is going to connect contemporary veterans and Canadians with historical sources to try to bring people together on the question of what war means.
When we have finished that, we will move on towards the building of the monument. We'll be planning a lot of different activities around Walter Allward and the cross being built within the monument.
We have a lot on the go right now and will have for the next five years.
5:45 p.m.
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
Right. That's great. Hopefully things will have returned to normal by that time so we can celebrate 105.
I said this after my experience at Vimy 100. I came back and actually said it in the House of Commons. Just as much as the Taj Mahal, the Wailing Wall, and other sites around the world attract religious symbols or individuals, I think Vimy is a place that every Canadian schoolchild should visit as part of not just the learning experience but really understanding. Being at the Vimy 100 celebration was, for me and I know for many, a life-altering experience. I appreciate that.
Don, I'll next go to you. What are some of the things that the Juno Centre is looking forward to when and if we do get back to some sense of normalcy?
5:45 p.m.
President, Juno Beach Centre Association
I think I've been fairly optimistic in my comments so far. Where we have challenges is with funding capital projects as we go forward. There are a few I can give you. There are confidential discussions happening, but I'll try to couch my words carefully.
5:50 p.m.
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
You know that we're open right now. People are watching.
5:50 p.m.
President, Juno Beach Centre Association
The house on the beach is a project that is in play for us right now. It's historic, but the owners essentially have put it in play. We've been in discussions for a couple of years, and in discussions with the town of Bernières. It's a huge asset on the Normandy beach. It's a huge visual representation of the landings. My dad talked about it. He went in on June 6, and basically the house on the beach was his reference point.
That's one project, and an example of the challenges we face: what do you do; how do you do the programming for it; how do you make it make money, or at least break even so it's not a burden, and so on and so forth.
We have another major project too. I won't talk about it, but it's been in the French press, not so much in Canada. We have a battle brewing with a neighbour who wants to put up 70 apartments right next to our parking lot called les Dunes.
5:50 p.m.
President, Juno Beach Centre Association
We won our second legal battle in that fight, but we are continuing to fight and we'll see where it goes. There's an upside to it potentially, and a downside that could be quite negative, if that project goes through and doesn't allow us to keep barriers up, essentially, to keep people off our roads.
That's the synopsis of where I see the future and where we're going.
5:50 p.m.
Conservative
5:50 p.m.
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
I'll just conclude by saying thank you to all of the witnesses for coming here today.
I said at the outset and I'll say it again that on the issue of commemoration, the history of our country, the lives that have been lost, the blood that's been spilled, the families that have been decimated by war, keeping these memories alive is critical to what we do, not just here as a committee in the recommendations we're going to be making, but also to any government that is in place to make sure that commemoration is held true.
Thank you to all of the witnesses.
5:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bryan May
Up next for five minutes is MP Amos.
You don't have your headset on, Will.
I'm not sure whether he's having trouble unmuting.
Will, can you hear me okay? You're on my list, but if you want to defer, that's fine.
5:50 p.m.
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
Is it time for a Mr. Davidson song—a little intervention?
5:50 p.m.
Liberal
William Amos Liberal Pontiac, QC
No more soup and sandwich bowl.
Sorry, Mr. Chair, but I didn't realize that I was on the list again. I'm happy to defer to a colleague. I'm also happy to seize the occasion. I don't have this good fortune—
5:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bryan May
Sure. You're on my list, but if one of your colleagues wants to jump in—
5:50 p.m.
Liberal
William Amos Liberal Pontiac, QC
Let me jump in, because I didn't have the opportunity to ask Ms. Bailey her opinion of the federal budget and how it did or didn't work for the Vimy Foundation.
I know that many members on this committee stood up in support of what Vimy was seeking, and I commend my colleagues for their budget activism in that regard.
Ms. Bailey, perhaps you could opine further.
5:50 p.m.
Executive Director, The Vimy Foundation
Thank you very much, Mr. Amos.
We did not get the allocation that so many of you advocated for, and I'd like to thank all of you for the efforts you made on our behalf. It was really, really wonderful to see, and it was excellent to be able to speak to each of you and to know that you took an interest in the drum that we're banging.
We understand that the budget this year is certainly a particular budget. We're in a situation where there are many, many more needs than ours that are pressing and immediate. Ours is more of a long-term proposal.
From our perspective, in the short term, yes, we didn't get the envelope this year that we asked for, but we will continue to push for that envelope. We will continue to draw attention to the question of overseas monuments.
Mr. Desilets also mentioned the issue of the Canadian memorial at Mont-des-Cats. It's very difficult to make a decision on all these requests.
I think it's a pressing issue. We would like to see the 10-year plan, and we would like to work with Veterans Affairs on this to see that 10-year plan try to handle these questions proactively rather than reactively.
My colleague, Mr. Loveridge, mentioned this as well. There's been a ton of work done on repairing the backlog of gravestones here in Canada, and nobody wants to see that backlog build back up again. There needs to be a continued proactive view rather than viewing it from when everything is falling apart and it becomes such a big problem that no one can ignore it anymore.
Thank you very much.
