Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 25th, 2026

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

In the skilled trades, I'm a Red Seal auto mechanic. I can take that clear across the country. Every province will recognize it. However, I understand that this is not the case for the military. If you come out of the military and you were in one of the skilled trades, you don't necessarily have a Red Seal trade certificate. Do you know anything about that?

[Greg Merrill]

As an aerospace engineering officer, I would have airframe technicians, aero-engine technicians, instrument and electrical technicians, and safety systems technicians working for me. There was a time when those trades did not cross over to a level of civilian equivalence as a civilian aircraft maintenance engineer, or an AME. Those are the individuals who work on everything from small general aircraft right up to what Air Canada flies.

I don't know the exact crossover, but over the better part of the 20 years that I have been out of the military, credibility has been established for the training that has been received in the military, and it either becomes equivalent to or condenses or shortens the amount of additional training required for someone to acquire their civilian certifications.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

I represent large agricultural communities, and there's lots of excitement around drone technology in agriculture. The frustrations are around how long it takes the government to get organized in allowing this technology to be used. They bring this technology from other countries where it's being used, and it gets shut down very quickly. The government says it doesn't have this regulation in place, or they can't do that, like the line of sight or having multiple drones flying with one operator. All of these things are causing frustrations.

Do you have any comments around that?

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

You have five seconds.

[Greg Merrill]

Okay.

Those things are changing. Transport Canada has been updating the regulations almost on an annual basis, and it does have provisions for multiple drones and for beyond line of sight now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much, Mr. Merrill.

I apologize again.

[Greg Merrill]

That's no problem.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Mr. Casey, you have five minutes.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, witnesses, for being here, and thank you for your service.

I would like to bring Mr. Coleman into the conversation.

Mr. Coleman, when I say “Thank you for your service,” that includes your service as a police officer and as an elected public servant.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Mr. Coleman has disappeared from my screen.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Oh my, and I just gave him all those compliments.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

I'll take them.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Shall I start again from the top, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

He disappeared about 15 seconds ago, so we will reconnect.

[Chris d'Entremont, Liberal, Acadie—Annapolis, NS]

Let's take a little break.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

We'll just suspend for a minute to see if we can reconnect.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

I call the meeting back to order.

We're having some technical issues. I will therefore give the floor to Ms. Gaudreau for two and a half minutes.

Then we'll come back to Mr. Casey for five minutes.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

We want to learn from this study. We want to target what we can fix.

Mr. Brulotte, your comments on labels or stigmatization are very interesting. There was talk of looking at things differently. I get the feeling there are gains to be made when we realize all the potential people have and use it to our advantage. There's also the pride of being a hero.

That's what I'm noticing from the presentations we're hearing. It's good to see the other side. I would invite you to share your comments or other arguments with us. We have people here taking notes.

Of the four measures that are important to you, which one would be the most important?

[Bryan Brulotte]

Among the four measures we talked about, it would be to adopt a positive narrative. It gives people the impression that they can accomplish something. They have more confidence in themselves. Furthermore, people in general will realize their own potential. When they go to the bank, let's say to get capital to do business—

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

They won't be afraid of that.

[Bryan Brulotte]

That's correct. Veterans are not broken. They don't have mental health issues. They're not violent in a workplace. These are very important things.

There are a number of things we could do, but if we wanted to focus on just one, it would be to adopt a much more positive and ambitious narrative when it comes to veterans and entrepreneurship.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Brulotte.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much.

Now we will invite Mr. Casey for five minutes, to address Mr. Coleman.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Coleman, welcome back. Thank you for your service in the military and the police and to the good people of British Columbia in elected life.

Sir, I want to just come back to a few things that you said and afford you an opportunity to expand upon them.

One of the things you talked about was the value of the franchise model to somebody with a military background. If I understood you correctly, you said that every franchise model comes with a pretty comprehensive manual and that military training is ideally suited for that sort of environment. Could you just expand upon that a bit? Are there examples of franchisors who are already doing this? Are there examples that you've seen in what you're doing now where you've had an opportunity to substantiate your treatise that this is a good match?