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Results: 46 - 60 of 342
View Charlie Angus Profile
NDP (ON)
Thank you for that.
Something one of the local Italian guides said when we were at Cassino struck me. He works with the Americans when they're there, and with the New Zealanders, the Australians and the Brits. He said that what really struck him about Canadian commemoration events is that we very much include our young people, and he thought that was really a unique and important thing for Canada.
How do we maintain these trips so that young people can see that and can be there as our goodwill ambassadors and come back with a greater understanding of the sacrifice?
Rick Christopher
View Rick Christopher Profile
Rick Christopher
2021-05-03 16:11
Absolutely, one of the things we're focusing on is youth engagement. One of the ways we used to do that was to have youth guides at the Vimy memorial. They were really our youth ambassadors. We have them doing other commemorative activities right now, but we want to make sure we continue to engage the youth and include them in all our commemoration activities, whether they be visits on a smaller scale or even some of the virtual things that we're doing. They've done some fantastic work for us instead of going to Vimy as guides this past year.
View John Brassard Profile
CPC (ON)
On passing commemoration on to the next generation—obviously many of the older veterans are passing, unfortunately—tell me a bit about what the Legion is doing to engage young people in this country to commemorate and remember going forward?
Steven Clark
View Steven Clark Profile
Steven Clark
2021-05-03 16:44
One of the greatest ways is through the poster and literary contests. As I noted, 100,000 young people from kindergarten through to grade 12 participate in that contest every year. It's absolutely incredible.
Another thing is that the Legion National Foundation has a biennial pilgrimage of remembrance to Europe. It's very limited in terms of the number of people who can attend, but the intent with that pilgrimage is that those who participate and experience the triumphs and tragedy of Canada's military heritage in Europe will then come back to engage youth in their communities, whether it's talking to a cadet group or to Scouts or Guides, and pass on the information they saw first-hand. We have to continue to engage individuals, especially youth, in remembrance.
View Andy Fillmore Profile
Lib. (NS)
View Andy Fillmore Profile
2021-05-03 17:12
Thank you, Chair.
Mr. Clark, thank you so much. As the sole witness for an hour, with 12 MPs firing rapid questions at you, you're doing remarkably well. Thank you for your lucidity, and moreover, for your incredible work.
At one point in your testimony you raised the alarm that if we don't have Legions and branches, where are we?
I see the work of the Legions in Halifax: the Spryfield Legion, the Vimy Legion and the White Ensign Legion. The Vimy Legion provides the colour guard for our main Remembrance Day events. The Spryfield Legion has become a living room for the community there. The programs that support veterans are so important, with the extended family and all the benefits that brings. However, the Legions also facilitate remembrance, don't they? They carry the stories forward, whether it's in an oral tradition or with the stories of what's on the wall of the Legions, or whether it is turning up to be the colour guard at important events.
We're seeing the membership numbers fall. I'm thinking particularly of the White Ensign Legion. They were trying everything, having barbeque nights and bringing in different kinds of music, trying to recruit younger members to keep the good work going. They were having a very difficult time with that. That's not my real question.
If you have any secrets for us on how we can increase youth membership in our local Legions, I would love to hear that from you, or how we can help, if there was a program that VAC could undertake that could help in some way.
If you have an answer to that, that's great, but I really want to talk to you about physical memorials. For example, at the Spryfield Legion, there is a granite memorial. I don't know the story of who paid for it or how it's maintained, but there are a number of memorials around Halifax, as there are in towns and cities across the country, that have cropped up organically.
Famously, in Halifax, as I mentioned at our last meeting of the committee, there is the HMCS Bonaventure anchor. A very plucky crew of survivors of the HMCS Kootenay disaster had it renovated for the 75th anniversary of Kootenay, but it was very unclear about whose responsibility it was and who had to pay for it. In the end, it all worked out, but it wasn't clear.
I wonder whether there is any insight you might give us on how we can better care for those smaller memorials. The glamorous ones are in the news on Remembrance Day, but I'm asking about those smaller community monuments.
Thank you.
Steven Clark
View Steven Clark Profile
Steven Clark
2021-05-03 17:15
I know that a number of years ago there was a national repository of memorials across the country that was gathering pictures and information so that people would know where they were and who was maintaining them or had the responsibility for it. I do not know the state of play for that repository, or whether it is still valid or updated.
With regard to community memorials, they could be Legion owned or non-Legion owned, but regardless of whether they are or not, if there is a local Legion branch, they are able to financially support the maintenance of those memorials should they fall into a state of disrepair or need things done. It's very important that we do that, so whether or not there's ownership, the Legion stands ready to assist if required.
Perhaps I could just quickly go back to your original comment about how you draw younger people in. It's a challenge. I look at the innovative ways in which some branches have done this.
For example, the Legion branch from Fredericton turned one of their meeting rooms into a gaming centre. They filled it with Xboxes and large-screen TVs, and being a community close to CFB Gagetown, it drew in those individuals, so they were able to learn what the Legion can do for them. Whether they are Legion members or not doesn't really matter, as long as they know that the Legion is there when they do need the Legion.
View Sonia Sidhu Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Mr. Chair; and thank you, minister, to you and your team for appearing today.
My question is to Dr. Tam.
Dr. Tam, there's a false belief out there that young adults and children do not need to worry about COVID. Tragically, a 13-year-old girl from Brampton passed away from the virus last week, and many of the individuals filling our hospitals are under the age of 40.
What message would you like to send to Canadians about the threat posed by COVID-19 to young people?
Theresa Tam
View Theresa Tam Profile
Theresa Tam
2021-04-30 14:52
Thank you for the question.
Chair, I want to reiterate that although COVID-19 can affect individuals of any age, serious outcomes are much more common in older age groups.
However, when there are a lot of cases and the third wave is accelerating through the population, we are seeing younger populations being affected. In fact, one of the higher increases we're seeing is actually the 40- to 49-year age group, and then the 60- to 69-year age group, as well as some even younger individuals. That's what's actually impacting the ICU capacity at the moment in a number of the provinces.
The bottom line is that everyone needs to protect themselves by using individual protective measures and also getting the vaccine as soon as they're eligible for it.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you.
I will come back to you, Mr. Loveridge.
Thank you for talking about all the work you're doing in terms of maintaining those gravesites. I think that's incredibly important. I'm wondering, with this backlog how long it is going to take to catch up, and what your ongoing concerns are moving forward. The other part of this—and I've heard this from other folks—is how are we including young people in seeing and participating? What is more meaningful than educating people by actually having them be there and understanding what it means when we talk about our history?
David Loveridge
View David Loveridge Profile
David Loveridge
2021-04-28 17:16
Those are both really good questions.
We're in year three of addressing the entire backlog across Canada for the Veterans Affairs grave markers. We're making great progress, particularly in Ontario. We're getting them done and bringing them up to a standard that I think anyone who looks at them would think was acceptable. I think at the end of this period we'll be good. I would hate to see us go back to having a backlog again, so those are issues that we'll address going forward.
On the young people thing, I think Caroline has also talked a lot about the engagement program. We call the engagement program Eyes On, Hands On, and our plan is to start that program sometime in 2022-23. Through it we want to engage the youth, the Legion and the cadet corps. We want to do that kind of stuff first of all to help us maintain, care for and be “eyes on” to all of our markers across Canada but also to use it as an educational opportunity for those groups to understand veterans. That engagement and outreach are critical as we go forward, because our veterans, especially from the First World War and Second World War, are disappearing and disappearing quickly.
Don Cooper
View Don Cooper Profile
Don Cooper
2021-04-28 17:39
I can comment quickly on France, since I know it a little.
Generally, as in Canada, they often fall under the municipalities' purview, and the municipalities will look after them and have a sense of history that gets them to do that.
The youth aspect is really important. That's a great idea that Steve brought out.
In France and in Holland in particular, both countries, they get the youth out there to put wreaths and little Canadian flags on the graves, so they're involved, essentially in commemoration. That's an important aspect whether you're removing graffiti or something else. So stick with the idea.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Chair.
I will come back to you again, Mr. Cooper.
I'm extremely relieved to hear that and I have no doubt that people would stand up for this very important monument.
I have a couple of questions. You spoke in your presentation about your ideas and thoughts around the expansion and what you want to do with the facility you have. I'm wondering what that looks like.
The other thing I thought you did a really good job on was talking about the opportunity and commitment to bear witness to this history and to have this as the monument that does that work. I'm wondering if you could talk about activities that you're doing to encourage youth to participate and learn. Are there any steps you're taking to do things with technology or anything to engage that younger population?
Don Cooper
View Don Cooper Profile
Don Cooper
2021-04-28 17:44
Yes, I think that's basically been the theme of our museum from day one. I don't know if somebody else has done it now, but we certainly were the only museum that had a youth circuit going through it, for example. It was specifically designed for people four feet tall.
We've maintained that throughout. We've done it today with the Peter and Madeleine theme, and so forth. Yes, we've addressed that. We address it in terms of the interactions of the local population of French kids, who basically do the commemorations, plant the flags and do those kinds of things. From the beginning we've had very much a youth-focused orientation.
To the point about financing, essentially we have a vibrant museum that we're trying to make better all the time. When we look at a project, for example, like our expansion project, it's to accommodate the extra visitors we're getting and can anticipate. It's also a project that gets us closer to that goal of sustainability in financing. Basically, we're talking about expanding our boutiques so we can sell more goods and make more money. We are also going to expand into a coffee shop that will bring in additional revenues. The net result of all of this—and there's a business case to say this—is that we're going to spend this money, but we're going to get it back over time and make for a better visitor experience.
We're a little different from Vimy, which doesn't charge and can't charge. It's a different animal. We basically can and do operate our facility as much like a business as we can.
View Michelle Rempel Garner Profile
CPC (AB)
Thank you, Chair.
I only have six minutes, so for my questions, witnesses, could you please keep your answers brief?
First, I'll start with Ms. Choo. Thank you so much for the work your organization is doing to combat Asian hate. If you do have recommendations on how the government could implement some of the recommendations you talked about, please table them with committee.
Briefly, Mr. Braithwaite, I know that your organization runs a program called “INNclusion” for 2SLGBTQ+ youth. I'm just wondering if you have any quick observations or would be willing to table to committee any specific recommendations on addressing safety for LGBTQ youth during this time, given that many of them can't shelter at home.
Michael Braithwaite
View Michael Braithwaite Profile
Michael Braithwaite
2021-04-26 11:25
Thank you very much for the question.
I think it's just about providing appropriate and affordable supportive housing. That's what we've done with INNclusion.
INNclusion is a very inexpensive way to do it. The organization is actually renting a home in the community, and we're working with partners who have expertise to wrap the right supports around LGBTQ2S+ youth moving forward.
I think you're absolutely right. Many youth, including 2SLGBTQ youth, are staying at home in unsafe situations. We just need to provide more options moving forward. We have about 25% to 40% of youth who experience homelessness identifying as being from this community. We just need to open up more, and it has to not be part of another housing program because the supports are a little different and specialized.
Results: 46 - 60 of 342 | Page: 4 of 23

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