First of all, thank you for asking the question.
I'll tell you, I'm doing everything I can to make sure I ask Veterans Affairs for only what I absolutely need. It's my belief that we can engage Canadians and, by engaging them, pull them in to make them feel useful and take their money. I mean that. When people send $100 or $150, they have a higher interest in participating, so I'm not shy about that.
On Operation Husky, you know, I had to raise over $648,000, and 157 Canadians paid close to $5,000 to come and be in this cemetery with me at the same time. But the CBC didn't do a documentary for us; RAI did, the national broadcaster of Italy. It produced a 22-minute documentary that focuses on the Canadian contribution to Operation Husky. That plays four times a year. We have nothing like that in Canada, so Veterans Affairs could step up in a big way to help me.
I will be asking them—and believe me, Veterans Affairs has been very, very generous to me. When I ask, we get. For instance, in 2013, they gave me $62,000, which I paid to UNB to produce a booklet. I'm now asking them to help me make a contribution to Canadian history, which is a unique book. Three Canadian authors and three Sicilian authors will be producing the history of each day of the battle from both perspectives, showing the cost of war in civilian terms. We think that will be very effective.
The signs are costing us 40,000 euros. I've virtually guaranteed to pay for those, but, man oh man, could it ever.... That could be really helpful.
For the commemorations in 2023, for the stage alone, where.... In 2013, we paid for everything. Veterans Affairs came, and the minister came, but we paid for everything.