Veterans Affairs committee  It's a pleasure to be here, Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee. I'm new in my position. I was put in this position at the end of April. We perpetuate the memory of our aboriginal veterans. We also promote a federal government program, a youth development program, that is

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you. He wanted to bring a point up. He said he noticed on my documentation that I identified as being from one of the indigenous groups. I said I was. He said I needed to be aware that to access benefits, now that I was going to be out of the service, there might be interd

Veterans Affairs committee  I presently live in Alberta. I was stationed with the military. I did about 10 days shy of 26 years, but I did a few postings to Alberta, so Alberta is home for me. I grew up in a military family. My father was in the army. He met Mom up in Churchill, and we moved away after I wa

Veterans Affairs committee  I was with REME, the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. I was a vehicle technician in the army.

Veterans Affairs committee  It was a medical release, item 3b.

Veterans Affairs committee  Sure. I also did a stint as a paratrooper for about four years. In 2000, I was involved in a vehicle mishap over in Bosnia, and the next five years after that, with the military lifestyle, running with a pack on your back, boots, hard ground, sleeping on the cold ground, it was a

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  You mean the culture?

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. It was all about mission first. That's the nature of the training. The job comes first before yourself. In the Cold War, you always had to be ready and prepared, whether you were serving on a ship or on an air base or in the actual field units. It was always like that. Showi

Veterans Affairs committee  It was the former Yugoslavia or Bosnia. I served in two areas on two different tours. On the first tour I served with the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and the second tour was with 1 Service Battalion. For the first tour we were stationed in Zgon, in

Veterans Affairs committee  No, I can't recall. It was the time of the Cold War. I don't know—maybe people were getting complacent. It had been going on for so many years.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm not sure I understand the question.

Veterans Affairs committee  I would say that everybody was treated the same. Just by my appearance, I guess you could say that I don't appear indigenous, so I'm kind of caught between two worlds. You do hear different things. I remember from being in the service that up front they do tell you the things yo

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. He served about 32 years with REME. He was a Korean War veteran also.

Veterans Affairs committee  As I recall, he finished work on a Friday, and Monday morning he was working as a driver at Dundurn military camp. It seemed quite seamless. A year before my father passed away, he was diagnosed with PTSD.