Evidence of meeting #117 for Veterans Affairs in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was services.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Board of Directors Chairperson, Neeginan Centre
I was going to say that I think there is an efficiency in funding the veteran, so that he or she can access service from an NGO. It could be the Legion, for instance.
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
Wonderful. Thank you very much.
Ms. Bailey, very quickly, I'm sorry I don't have more time. You talked about, I understand, a digital project you were working on. You're working towards Vimy's 110-year anniversary, which is coming up.
I know you need to plan. What do you see as some of the roadblocks or barriers to your being able to do everything you would like to do to prepare in advance and make that event as amazing as it should be?
Executive Director, The Vimy Foundation
Yes, we do need time to prepare. For us, one of the major roadblocks certainly is funding. I will not beat around the bush. Our ability to deliver projects to their full size depends on the funding. We have 50% of what we need raised for these digital projects. The projects are going forward, but the scale of the projects and how they're rolled out will be dependent on funding.
The timeline—
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
Thank you. That's what I wanted to ask.
There's a timeline by which you need to know this funding will be there and available so that you can continue on. How much time do you need in advance?
Executive Director, The Vimy Foundation
We need probably 18 months to two years.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Mrs. Wagantall, you have 30 seconds for a question and an answer.
Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
Sure.
Ms. Bailey, I had the opportunity to go to Vimy Ridge, and we are talking about our indigenous veterans.
In a nutshell, can you just describe why we were successful at Vimy Ridge in relation to the role our indigenous veterans played with the rolling barrage?
Executive Director, The Vimy Foundation
Vimy Ridge was a success because it was very well organized. Part of that organization was scouting, maps and sniping, and really being able to bring together all of the services to do what everyone did best, I suppose.
During the First World War, there were 4,000 identified indigenous veterans—there are probably many more—who were involved in those battalions. Frequently, they did serve in positions as snipers and scouts, and they would have been extremely important in the success of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you very much.
Now we go to Mr. Wilson Miao, who is joining us by video conference.
Mr. Miao, you have four minutes, please.
November 25th, 2024 / 5:20 p.m.
Liberal
Wilson Miao Liberal Richmond Centre, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for joining us today on this very important study.
I'd like to direct my first question to Ms. Bailey.
What steps has the Vimy Foundation taken to research, preserve and highlight the stories of Black and indigenous veterans who served in uniform, and how can Canadians learn more about these veterans' experiences?
Executive Director, The Vimy Foundation
Our work is underpinned by the TRC and the calls to action of the TRC. That runs throughout our public education programs and our youth education programs. We've done significant research on both topics, as well as other groups involved in the First World War, such as women, for example, and francophones outside of Quebec.
All of these are topics we've spent a deep amount of time researching and ensuring they are included in all of our curriculums, so if you are using a curriculum in our school and accessing one of our programs, those stories and those viewpoints are very clearly shown and they're very clearly illustrated to Canadians as part of the full context of the First World War.
All of these are available through our website, and the educators access them through multiple different points and different programs we run.
Liberal
Wilson Miao Liberal Richmond Centre, BC
Could you share with us more details on how the Vimy Foundation supports and engages with indigenous communities to honour and preserve the legacy of indigenous veterans?
Executive Director, The Vimy Foundation
Yes. Absolutely.
We spend a lot of time communicating directly with different indigenous communities. We focus particularly on schools that have large populations of reserve students. Many of those relationships are one-on-one relationships. As the previous panel mentioned, indigenous communities in Canada are not a single bloc. We approach each of those communities separately based on the needs and expressed desires of that community for our services.
Liberal
Wilson Miao Liberal Richmond Centre, BC
Thank you.
Mr. Shead, I really thank you for your service. I understand that you're considered one of the founders of the national Indigenous Veterans Day in Canada, which goes back 30 years. How would you say Indigenous Veterans Day has evolved over these past three decades?
Board of Directors Chairperson, Neeginan Centre
First of all, I really don't consider myself a founder. I certainly was there for the first service. I had responsibility for overseeing whatever was happening in Neeginan Centre. I really helped the staff and students put on that thing, but everything that was done with respect to that first service was done by staff and students, with a little bit of consultation from not just me but also indigenous veterans.
I don't know what other communities are doing, but certainly the service we hold in Winnipeg at Neeginan Centre is quite moving. We do it in a rotunda. We can seat about 400 people on the rotunda floor. This is the old waiting room area of the train station. Every service we have is filled. It's well supported by not just the indigenous veterans but also the non-indigenous veterans. The local military militias and reserve forces and what have you also send representatives, as do the governments. We also get support from Veterans Affairs Canada.
Now, if that is being repeated elsewhere in other big cities, boy, that's really something. Winnipeg is a pretty unusual city, because I think our indigenous population is now about 25% of the city's population.
Liberal
Wilson Miao Liberal Richmond Centre, BC
Do you have any suggestions on how we can better recognize Indigenous Veterans Day, not just in Winnipeg but across Canada?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you very much. They have only four minutes in total.
Now I'll give the floor to Mr. Desilets. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome our colleague Mr. Simard.
Mr. Desilets, you have the floor for four minutes.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, Ms. Bailey. It's good to see you again. I had the pleasure of visiting the Vimy Foundation two weeks ago on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal. You have some really amazing facilities there. There are impressive artifacts and maps from the First World War that are breathtaking.
I know you're looking for a lot more funding, since you've only secured 50% of your budget. Have you heard anything from Veterans Affairs Canada?
Executive Director, The Vimy Foundation
Not yet, no. We're still waiting for the end of the federal budget process. We also plan to submit requests under the community anniversaries component of the building communities through arts and heritage program, which does provide funding to us.
However, that process takes about six months, and we do that on a project-by-project basis. So it's not a large envelope. That will be used to fund each project for the next three years.