Veterans Affairs Committee on May 3rd, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 23 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs. Today's meeting is taking place in the hybrid format that we are now becoming used to.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on October 27, 2020, the committee is resuming its study on a strategy for commemorations in the 21st century.

I'd like to welcome all the witnesses who have taken the time to join us today.

The meeting today is broken up into two hours. In the first hour, we're going to be meeting with Department of Veterans Affairs officials. I will introduce all of you and explain the second hour as well. Then we'll come back to give you an opportunity for opening remarks.

First off, I'll introduce Mr. Rick Christopher, assistant deputy minister, strategic policy and commemoration; retired Colonel Michael Pearson, director, commemoration operations; and Paul Thomson, director general, commemoration division.

We'll be joined in the second hour by the Royal Canadian Legion, from which we have Mr. Steven Clark, national executive director.

Mr. Christopher will start us off in the first hour.

You have five minutes for your opening remarks.

[Rick Christopher, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy and Commemoration, Department of Veterans Affairs]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the committee. It is a pleasure to be here today.

I would like to begin by acknowledging that the land from which Paul and I are talking to you is the traditional and unceded territory of the Abegweit Mi'kmaq first nation.

On this day 104 years ago, at 3:45 a.m., the 27th Canadian infantry battalion advanced over an open plain under heavy shelling towards the town of Fresnoy, France. While most of the battalion was stopped short of the objective, Lieutenant Robert Combe led five men across the line. Using his opponents' own grenades, he cleared the trench and captured 80 enemy soldiers. Once his position was secured by reinforcements, Lieutenant Combe continued to advance until he was killed by an enemy sniper. He had been in France for two weeks.

Lieutenant Combe was laid to rest in the field cemetery at Acheville, France, which was later destroyed in the fighting. His name, along with the names of 11,284 other Canadian soldiers with no known graves, is inscribed on the Vimy Memorial.

I've told you this story because it is our privilege and obligation to continue the sacred tradition of remembering and honouring all those who have served and given so much to Canada and Canadians.

This has become much more challenging during the past year. The pandemic has continued to test the mettle of all Canadians, including veterans and their families, members of the Canadian Forces and the RCMP. The Department of Veterans Affairs and many organizations that support veterans have shown their resilience and flexibility by adjusting their approach in the face of the pandemic. I am proud of what we have accomplished.

In May 2020, we marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands and the end of the Second World War in Europe. An overseas delegation was planned, including the participation of a veteran delegation at a number of ceremonies in Europe. Sadly, this had to be postponed to a later date.

However, to recognize this important anniversary, we produced a virtual ceremony. The video received over 125,000 views on Facebook. We also reached out to schools, youth and community groups across Canada and distributed bilingual learning resources with a focus on the liberation of the Netherlands.

For the first time in history, in 2020, Veterans' Week was held virtually. Through livestreaming ceremonies, online learning resources, Faces of Freedom podcasts, and streaming videos of the Kipnes Lantern and the virtual poppy drop, we were able to bring Canadians together.

The candlelight tribute ceremony, which also takes place every year during Veterans' Week, was held virtually. The video featured veterans in long-term care facilities across Canada and was viewed over 64,000 times.

In March, we highlighted the contribution of women in uniform on our social media channels. We ran a campaign that focused on sharing the stories of more than a dozen women veterans from diverse backgrounds during the “They proudly served” series. This sparked meaningful conversations about their experiences in the Canadian Armed Forces.

One of our objectives is to educate youth to ensure that they continue to carry the torch of remembrance. Previously, youth representatives were an important part of our overseas delegations for significant anniversaries. We have had to find new ways to keep our youth connected and engaged.

The commemoration division's learning unit has connected with over 57,000 educators and youth leaders interested in receiving our learning materials. We continue to send information to educator partners on new materials, events and anniversaries related to remembrance throughout the year, so that they can be shared with young Canadians.

The Minister of Veterans Affairs awarded commendations virtually this year to 67 recipients. These are usually awarded in person to individuals who have contributed in an exemplary manner to the care and well-being of veterans or to the remembrance of the contributions, sacrifices and achievements of veterans.

Last year, our commemorative partnership program approved over $1.6 million for 158 projects across the country. The department continued to support organizations with initiatives that honour those who served in Canada during times of war, military conflict and peace.

For example, the program funded the Niagara Military Museum's exhibit on the Black military history of Niagara. The exhibit featured personal stories of service from various conflicts, including the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and Afghanistan. The project included online materials, study guides and fact sheets, and has travelled to a number of schools across the region.

I want to take this opportunity to provide the committee with our vision of the future of commemoration. The department developed a 10-year commemoration strategic plan in partnership with the ministerial advisory group on commemorations. This plan outlines how we will help Canadians understand how service advances peace and global security, inspire Canadians to actively recognize the services of sacrifices of all who serve, and preserve memorials and grave markers in a sustainable and dignified way.

Through 2021, the department will consult with veterans and other Canadians to seek their views on our approach and hear their ideas on how best to remember Canadian military missions and recognize those who have served our country in war and in peace.

At Veterans Affairs Canada, despite the pandemic, we are continuing to connect with Canadians in new ways to ensure we recognize our veterans, their sacrifices and their service to our country. We are using these new approaches, adopted out of necessity, to change the way we honour our past and commemorate in the future.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you very much, Mr. Christopher.

I see that Mr. Desilets has joined us, so we'll say bon voyage to Alexis.

We're going to suspend for just a moment to do Mr. Desilets's sound check.

We're back. Mr. Doherty will start us off, for six minutes.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Christopher, did you say there was $1.6 million for 158 projects?

[Rick Christopher]

Yes, that is correct. That is the commemorative partnership program. It's community-based. There are smaller, community programs for initiatives, and some larger initiatives. It varies from year to year, but that's about it.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

That would be roughly $10,126 for each project. Is that correct?

[Rick Christopher]

That's correct. I don't have the math in front of me, but yes, that sounds like a proper average.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Do you feel that's enough?

[Rick Christopher]

I do. Every year, the program is heavily subscribed. The recipients are very eager and keen to get that funding, and provide the support.

This year was a bit different in that we had to shift dramatically, because some of the events we supported were in-person events, so that changed the focus. We certainly spent a lot of time working with some of these organizations to make sure we were able to continue to fund them; we worked with them to figure out what their new way of commemorating would look like during the pandemic.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

How do you think the 40,000 veterans of the war in Afghanistan should be commemorated?

[Rick Christopher]

The department is certainly working on a strategy to make sure we are commemorating the modern veterans. We've shifted, over the past several years, from a more traditional, single large conflict type of commemoration, where you had a fairly homogenous group of veterans who served during those times.

We're moving towards a more modern approach, where we're looking at more regional types of conflicts. Obviously, we have the Afghanistan memorial, which we're working on in partnership with Heritage Canada and the National Capital Commission.

Perhaps Paul could give you a little more information on that.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

I have another question, actually, and perhaps both of you could answer.

As you know, many of our veterans are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, moral injury or mental health injury. Many of them choose death by suicide.

Are we going to commemorate the loss of life of those who are struggling, have struggled and have lost the fight, due to their service? If so, how?

[Rick Christopher]

What I would say to that is, yes, we are going to commemorate and we do commemorate those. One suicide is obviously too many. The department has any number of programs to try to make sure that number is as small as it possibly can be and hopefully zero. That being said, if someone has a mental health injury, we do not differentiate between mental health and physical conditions. If someone unfortunately is to die from their condition related to the service, we commemorate them as we would any other soldier or veteran.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

That's good to hear.

Mr. Christopher, has the consultation process for the commemoration strategy started?

[Rick Christopher]

Yes. The consultation process has started. I will say that in developing the strategy we worked very closely with the commemoration advisory group and then began to consult and share some of the strategy. We're going to be going out more widely. Of course, the pandemic put a bit of a loop in things, but certainly Paul can expand on the plan a bit.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

With that, which groups have been consulted and for which ones is there a plan to consult?

[Rick Christopher]

Do you want to take that, Paul?

[Paul Thomson, Director General, Commemoration Division, Department of Veterans Affairs]

Sure. Thanks, Rick.

MP Doherty, we've consulted and, as Rick alluded to, we've collaborated with the minister's commemorative advisory group. They've been a key resource but also a significant input into the development of it. We have talked to a number of other groups and socialized a plan with our DND colleagues, with other entities and other organizations out there, including youth organizations and others, to ensure that we are getting the feedback we need. We're going to continue to do that. The key point here is that the plan as it stands now is a draft consultative version, and that is going to remain the case as we continue to socialize this plan and get feedback.

One of the fundamental themes of the plan is that we want to develop content and initiatives in expanding our focus to focus more on younger veterans, more recent conflicts and peacekeeping initiatives.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Thank you for that.

When do you expect the consultation process to wrap up?

[Paul Thomson]

It's an ongoing process. Again, we're going to be implementing the plan and iterating, learning and developing as we go. At this point, I'm hesitant to say when the actual final version will be done, because I think it's more important to get that valuable feedback from key audiences and key stakeholders. That way, like I said, we can continue to iterate and develop that content and expand our focus so we're resonating with some of our key audiences and the under-represented communities that we want to increase our focus on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thanks, Todd.

Up next is MP Lalonde, for six minutes.

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Christopher, I would like to thank you for your presentation, and especially for your leadership during a very difficult year.

I wanted to discuss the shift or expansion of focus from World War II and the Korean War to more recent engagements like the war in Afghanistan or peacekeeping missions, as well as the RCMP. Thinking about the shift, will this change in focus alter how VAC approaches its commemorative activities?

[Rick Christopher]

Mr. Chair, there are a number of things. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, there's been a shift to the point where 94% of the veterans we serve are considered to be modern veterans. I don't like the name, but it's the one we're using right now. Post Korea would be another way to describe it. The places where these veterans have served are across the world, as I mentioned. They're not one single conflict, so there are a number of groups, associations and veterans organizations that would like to commemorate those missions. That's one consideration.

The other is really that the technology has changed. We're moving from a situation where the emphasis was on in-person events; any of the social media applications that we would do would be an add-on or a bit of an afterthought. Now, really, it's hand and glove with both of these: in-person events where possible during these times, but also heavy on the social media.

Paul, do you want to talk about Canada and the world, and what we're doing in terms of having particular years where we would be doing a particular area in the world?

[Paul Thomson]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

This is just to flag the fact that our focus on younger veterans and more recent conflicts is not at the expense of our work with respect to the First World War, the Second World War and the older, traditional milestones. We are expanding our scope. We are not changing the key things we do for the First World War and the Second World War. We're just expanding.

As Rick said, one of the key themes or ideas that we had in our strategic plan for our more recent conflicts and younger veterans was to focus on these regions, so we do five-year cycles of regions, including Canada. Whether it's the Middle East one year and Asia, Africa and the Americas, including Canada, the next, our purpose is to recognize, acknowledge and inform Canadians about the service and sacrifice of younger veterans.

Going back to an earlier question with regard to PTSD, I think one of the key roles that commemoration can play is to help younger veterans accept and embrace their identity as veterans and validate their service and sacrifice. We can contribute in this way to veteran well-being and facilitate their transition, whether they're transitioning from being a CAF member to being a civilian member of society or just being recognized and feeling validated within their own communities for their contribution, service and sacrifice. That's a role we can play and are playing with regard to our veterans.

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

Thank you very much. I have to agree. I represent Orleans, where a large number of veterans and active members live.

Mr. Christopher, I want to come back to one thing you mentioned regarding this pandemic and how things have changed and really forced us to adapt a lot of our commemorative activities. Certainly here in Orleans, where we usually had thousands of people, we had to scale down. I think there were only 25 people. This new, virtual form of commemoration is now a language that we're having this discussion about.

May I ask what the VAC team at the department has taken from this experience that could play a role in commemorative strategies once the pandemic has passed?