Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, ministers and members of the committee.
We are here today mainly to discuss the selection process for the National Monument to Canada's Mission in Afghanistan.
I wouldn't say the process was botched. On the contrary, it was very well executed by the jury members and the team of professionals, who did their job and selected Team Daoust, from Quebec, with Luca Fortin, an artist from the Quebec City region, where I come from.
The big surprise, the shock, was seeing that the decision changed. In our view, the decision to change teams and select Team Stimson was an arbitrary one on the government's part. We're trying to understand it, but no one understands it. The community doesn't understand it either. Businesses working in the design world at the national and international levels don't understand it. No one understands how this work, which was done by a professional jury, could have been dismissed out of hand.
You talked about veterans. I'm a veteran. You don't need to explain veteran world to me? I know all about it. We're here today to understand how the decision was made.
You mentioned the survey. The Léger firm conducted a detailed study that completely demolished that survey. I saw the table of figures and data that were collected. It makes no sense from the point of view of professional statistics. You can't rely on it to make this kind of decision and completely disregard a professional jury that did its job in selecting the project of another team.
In that connection, Ms. St‑Onge, I'd like to go back to what you said earlier. You said that the Department of Canadian Heritage washed its hands of the matter because the department played a more administrative role. I would note that, in early 2023, your predecessor, Mr. Rodriguez, received a memo from the assistant deputy minister stating that his permission was required in order to authorize a change. I of course can't see all the most interesting parts of the memo because they're obviously redacted. Whatever the case may be, the permission of the Minister of Canadian Heritage was required.
We're talking about artists and designers. You are responsible for everything pertaining to monuments in Canada. This kind of project can't simply be dismissed out of hand. Don't you have an opinion about the way this was handled?