Welcome to meeting number 22 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.
Today's meeting is taking place in the hybrid format that we're all becoming accustomed to.
I've been made aware that there may be one vote or a number of votes during this meeting. When the bells start ringing, I will be asking for unanimous consent to sit through the bells. We can then suspend to go and vote, and then look into possibly resuming the meeting once the voting period ends. I just wanted to make sure that everyone was aware of that.
Today, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) in the motion adopted by the committee on October 27, 2020, the committee is commencing its study on a strategy for commemorations in the 21st century.
Welcome to all of the witnesses who have taken the time to join us today. First and foremost, I want to thank all of you.
I will introduce each of you, and then I will give you each five minutes for your opening remarks. I will give you a warning when you have one minute left. Don't panic, a minute is quite a long time to wrap things up. You'll see me do this throughout the meeting, not just in the opening comments but in the question period when time is getting short.
First, from the Canadian War Museum, we have Caroline Dromaguet, director general. From the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, we have David Loveridge, area director, Canada and the Americas. From Juno Beach Centre Association, we have Don Cooper, president. From the RCMP Heritage Centre, we have Steve McLellan, board chair. From the Vimy Foundation, we have Caitlin Bailey, executive director.
We're going to start the opening remarks with Ms. Dromaguet.
The next five minutes are all yours.