Yes, thank you.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
[Witness spoke in Cree and provided the following translation:]
Hello. My name is Joel Pedersen. I'm from Saskatoon.
[English]
My name is Joel Pedersen. It's an absolute pleasure to be with you here today.
Thank you for the kind words, sir.
Mr. Chair, with regard to the questions asked so far, I'd like to also just indicate that we've got a lot of space to cover and a lot of people to meet with. We're doing a lot of heavy lifting here.
Our team is composed, right now, of three persons. The first one is in Victoria. She has been with Veterans Affairs for a number of years and knows the ins and outs really well. The second member is from Edmonton; he's a former Canadian Armed Forces member as well, and has been working with Veterans Affairs Canada for a number of years. The remainder of our team works out in P.E.I. and assists us quite a lot with the administrative portion.
What we've seen over the last year and a half is a lot of engagement. As Madame Meunier mentioned, we've been able to meet with current serving members and retired members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP. For the majority of indigenous members whom we have been able to work with, we've been able to facilitate and assist them with their questions and also assist them with their files. We're finding that a lot of the engagement with leadership in the first nations, Métis and Inuit communities has been really significant and we look forward to continuing these meaningful engagements.
I'd like to also just add, Mr. Chair, that when we're talking about TRC and UNDRIP, we really are doing some heavy lifting here. I think if there's anything that's moving, that's what we're doing, and we're really honoured to be a part of this.
If anyone has a question, please go ahead.