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Results: 1 - 15 of 40
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
In December, I received the answer to one of my written questions concerning the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's calls to action 81 and 82.
In its answer, the government told us that only 0.5% full-time equivalent position was assigned to implementing call to action 82, which, we will recall, involves building a monument to the memory of the victims of indigenous residential schools, in Ottawa.
I will ask the question again that I asked the other day. Do you not think that this is insufficient for implementing that call to action?
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
I have with me the government's response to my question. I'll read an excerpt: “Designation of a site will be undertaken once subsidies are provided to build this monument. As it is likely that a national monument would be constructed on federal lands in the capital, no purchase of land is envisioned at this time.”
Am I to understand that the government hasn't planned any subsidies for the construction of the monument to honour the victims of residential schools?
View Cathay Wagantall Profile
CPC (SK)
Can I ask you about the Afghan memorial? It's in a 10-year plan, and of course, has been taking a very long time to come to fruition. I hear from veterans from that time that this is very important, that they have a place to go to meet each other.
Is that the type of thing you're referring to?
View Scot Davidson Profile
CPC (ON)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, everyone. I love talking about history.
Witnesses, you weren't on the last call, but I showed a picture of my grandfather that was recreated in the War Museum.
William, this is my Uncle Bert. He was on a corvette which was sunk in the North Atlantic. That's my Uncle Don. He was a tail gunner and was shot down on July 23 over France. He hid with the French underground for a year until after the war.
Colleagues, I'm sorry to bring this up again.
Steve, because I'm new to the committee, you're the first one I have from DND as a witness.
I have a Silver Cross mother who works for me. Her son was killed in action in 2010 in Afghanistan. It was horrific.
With the unveiling of the Afghanistan memorial two years ago, she was notified of that by letter two days after it happened. I haven't had anyone yet who can assure me that the families of the fallen, definitely those from Afghanistan, are notified when there's an unveiling.
I wonder if you know of a process that has been put in place for this, because I'm having trouble finding the answer.
View Luc Desilets Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My regards to my colleagues and our witnesses.
It is very kind of you to take part in this exercise.
My first question is for Mr. Christopher.
Mr. Christopher, I would like to talk to you about financial support for overseas memorial sites. My office has received a request for financial support for the restoration of the Canadian memorial at Mont-des-Cats. Although it is in France and managed by a non-profit organization in France, of course, the memorial actively commemorates the participation of French Canadian soldiers in the Great War.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the commemorative partnership program was established to assist organizations undertaking remembrance initiatives. The Veterans Affairs Canada website states that the program can provide funding to organizations in Canada and abroad. However, I did some digging and found information that the program has, until recently, excluded foreign recipients.
As a first step, can you confirm that the program does in fact provide funding for Canadian commemorative sites such as the Mont-des-Cats memorial?
View Luc Desilets Profile
BQ (QC)
Yes, that would be very kind of you.
My understanding is that there has been a change.
Now, what were the reasons for the department expanding its support?
View Luc Desilets Profile
BQ (QC)
I'm talking about the commemorative partnership program. There have been changes, as I understand it.
View Luc Desilets Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you.
I would like to ask a question about another area.
The departmental plan of Veterans Affairs Canada earmarks $43 million for commemoration. It is a significant amount of money, and it's justified. There will no doubt be a number of commemorative activities, but I suspect that this will not be enough to meet all the demands.
There seems to be a problem with the investments in memorial restoration and conservation. Short-term assistance is often available—again, those are some good amounts—but there is rarely long-term financial security for the organizations.
Is Veterans Affairs Canada satisfied with what it is providing in terms of long-term financial security for small and large Canadian commemorative sites?
View Cathay Wagantall Profile
CPC (SK)
That's great. As I think about the fact that I got to go, I have an incredible desire to see my children and grandchildren have that experience, maybe just to light that fire. I can see how challenging it would be to do that.
In our notes, it reads, “Lastly, the 10-year strategic plan calls for the completion of the national monument to Canada's mission in Afghanistan on LeBreton Flats in Ottawa.” Where is that mission right now in terms of seeing that come to fruition? What's the date that we can tell them this is going to be completed?
View Cathay Wagantall Profile
CPC (SK)
How many years down the road is this? You must have a sense.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, everyone. I apologize for missing your presentation.
I heard Mr. Casey's question and I really couldn't agree more. We're hearing and seeing a lot more interaction in community events.
I know COVID has changed it, but this past Remembrance Day we had a small event and I was absolutely amazed to see how many of our veterans came, from the Second World War and the Korean War. Some of them were very elderly, but they were still there. It was hard for our cadets to not be able to go and help them walk closer. I appreciate how these opportunities for us to remember are really challenged during this time.
At the last committee meeting, we heard from Caitlin Bailey, the executive director of the Vimy Foundation. She talked about the concern she had around overseas commemorations—that mentality of “if it's out of sight, it's out of mind”—and making sure Canada is proactive in providing sustainable funding for the maintenance of memorials.
I wonder if you could give us a bit of an update and tell us if VAC is committed to ensuring that sustainable funding is there for the maintenance and upkeep of overseas commemorations, which I know we all agree are so important for us in our international reputation.
I will leave it to you to decide who should answer.
View Darrell Samson Profile
Lib. (NS)
Steven, thank you very much for that information, because 9,000 is just about 25% of the 40,000 who participated in the Afghan war, and that's major. That's really important.
I see Legions going out and trying to bring those individuals in more actively. I thank you for that work and that important celebration you brought to the table in 2015.
I hear from some Afghan veterans—March 31 marked seven years since the end of the Afghan war—that some of them still feel that the cenotaphs and the memorials don't recognize their dates and service of peace, if you want.
Are you hearing that, and what do you see as being a solution to that? I have a number of veterans who are saying they're not being recognized as they should be. What could you suggest?
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.
View Darrell Samson Profile
Lib. (NS)
—just with your expertise, how easy would it be to put those dates on the cenotaphs, the 7,500, that aren't on them now?
View Luc Desilets Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. McLellan.
Mr. Loveridge, we are short on time, but I'd like your opinion with respect to overseas memorials compared to those chosen in Canada and Quebec.
Is there sufficient funding on both sides? Is there an area, overseas or in Canada, that is being left behind?
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