Welcome to meeting number 68 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.
For the first hour, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted on Monday, October 3, 2022, the committee is resuming its study on the experience of women veterans.
For the second hour, we will discuss the national monument to Canada’s mission in Afghanistan.
Allow me to say hello to two individuals who are here today as substitutes. Carine Grand‑Jean will be acting as clerk and Diana Ambrozas as our analyst.
In accordance with our usual procedure, before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. The connection tests have been completed, and everything is in order. Although the room is equipped with a sound system that performs well, it is possible that audio feedback will occur, which can be extremely harmful to interpreters and cause serious hearing injuries. The most common cause of audio feedback is an earpiece being too close to a microphone. So we ask all participants to be very careful when using their earpieces. In order to prevent incidents and to protect the interpreters' hearing health, I invite participants to ensure that they are speaking properly into the microphone and to avoid manipulating their earpiece.
Pursuant to our motion, we are resuming our study on the experience of female veterans. Having said that, before we welcome our witnesses, I would like to provide this trigger warning. We will be discussing experiences related to mental health. This may be triggering to people who are here, to viewers, members, or staff with similar experiences. If you feel distressed or need help, please advise the clerk.
Now, I would like to extend a cordial welcome to our guests.
For the first hour, as an individual, we have Chris Edwards, researcher; from the Canadian War Museum, we have Mélanie Morin-Pelletier, historian; and from Veterans Emergency Transition Services, by video conference, we have Debbie Lowther, chief executive officer and co-founder.
We're going to start with opening statements.
I'd like to invite Ms. Mélanie Morin-Pelletier to make her opening statement.
Please go ahead. You have five minutes.