Thank you to our guests.
Ms. Gillis, thank you for the comments in your opening statement that recognized the intent and why we're here.
I'm going to leap off from that to express some disappointment I've had recently. I've seen military members paraded out in front of the media. When it came to the Snowbirds announcement, they were basically told that they're going to lose their jobs next year. We treat our serving military members by telling them that they're losing their jobs, and then we go to the monument—as Mr. Banks recently shared—and we have no recognition.
These guys just get things wrong. Parade our veterans out for the monument, but don't make an announcement that they're cancelling the Snowbirds. They're failing to recognize the importance of what they mean to Canadians. We don't have the monuments here that they have in Europe for spilled blood. Our only touchstone is the Snowbirds.
I'd like to get your thoughts, Mr. Banks, about the monument, about what we could have done better and about how we can treat our military better.