I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to the 23rd meeting of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted on Monday, October 3, 2022, the committee is resuming its study on allegations that medical assistance in dying was offered to a veteran, unprompted, by a Veterans Affairs Canada employee.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the House order of Thursday, June 23, 2022. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application. The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. Just so that you are aware, the webcast will always show the person speaking rather than the entire committee.
For those participating virtually, I would like to outline a few rules to follow. You may speak in the official language of your choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of floor, English or French. If interpretation is lost, please inform me immediately, and we will ensure that interpretation is properly restored before resuming the proceedings.
When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your mic should be on mute. I would also like to inform the committee that all witnesses attending the meeting virtually have passed their technical testing.
I'd now like to welcome our witnesses.
Today we have, by video conference, Colonel John D. Conrad, retired. We also have Mr. Mark Meincke, retired corporal and host of Operation Tango Romeo, a trauma recovery podcast for military, veterans, first responders, and their families. By video conference, from the Royal Canadian Legion, we have Carolyn Hughes, acting director, veterans services, national headquarters; and also by video conference, we have Oliver Thorne, executive director, Veterans Transition Network.
We are going to start with Colonel John D. Conrad.
You have five minutes for your opening remarks. Please go ahead.