11 December 2023, 11:00 – 12:30 (ET)
Virtual via Microsoft Teams
Commemoration Advisory Group members
- Captain (Retired) Ray Kokkonen, Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association
- Major (Retired) Gerry Wharton, Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans in Canada
- Lee Windsor, University of New Brunswick, Gregg Centre (Co-Chair)
- Derrill Henderson, National Council of Veteran Associations in Canada and Hong Kong Veterans Association of Canada
- Anne Hurtubise
- John Moses
- Sean Graham, Directorate of History and Heritage, Department of National Defence (on behalf of Dr. Steve Harris)
Veterans Affairs Canada officials
- Sylvie Thibodeau-Sealy, Director, Policy, Learning and Recognition, Commemoration Division (on behalf of Paul Thomson, Co-chair)
- Rob Walker, Special Projects Advisor, Policy Learning and Recognition, Commemoration Division
- John Desrosiers, Director, European Operations
- Amanda Brazeau, Director, Commemoration
- Noah Ellis, Program Operations Assistant, Engagement and Events
- Jeff Gallant, Manager, Engagement and Events
- Kirstin Sweet, Project Officer, Engagement and Events
Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs
- The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defense
Observer
- Jamie Morse, Office of the Veterans Ombud
Regrets
- Paul Thomson, Director General, Commemoration Division, Veterans Affairs Canada (Co-Chair)
- Lieutenant Colonel Wallace Noseworthy, Canadian Joint Operations Command, Canadian Armed Forces
- Andree Gracie
- Caitlin Bailey, Vimy Foundation
- Simon Coakeley
- Robert Jardine
Welcome and opening remarks
Sylvie Thibodeau-Sealy, Director, Policy, Learning and Recognition, Commemoration Division stepped in as the VAC Co-Chair on behalf of Paul Thomson who sent his regrets. She opened the meeting with a warm welcome, thanked everyone for joining virtually, and shared that she was looking forward to a great discussion of topics of the advisory group.
Land acknowledgement
The VAC Co-Chair offered a land acknowledgement recognizing that we are all on the traditional and unceded territory of the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people, covered by the historic Treaties of Peace and Friendship.
The Minister of Veterans Affairs
The VAC Co-Chair welcomed The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence to the meeting. Minister Petitpas Taylor expressed her gratitude for the group's work and shared with them the two issues of priority she would like them to work together on:
- New learning materials the department could develop to focus on the service and sacrifice of modern Veterans; and
- How to ensure materials focused on equity-deserving Veteran populations can reach more rural and remote schools.
The Minister will be providing a letter to the group, outlining these priority areas and is looking forward to seeing their recommendations in the near future.
Veterans’ Week 2023 overview
The VAC Co-chair gave an overview of educational materials that were provided in the lead-up to the 2023 Veterans’ week. She shared that educational materials included depictions of the Peace dove and peace crane.
- The group discussed what materials were available to educators, Veterans, and CAF representatives when they made presentations in schools.
- VAC introduced a new animal character in educational materials, who represents the sheep at the Vimy site. A “Name our new sheep!” poll is currently underway on VAC’s website and is proving to be very popular. The poll is open until May 31 and the winning name will be announced in the spring.
- The groups discussed how educational materials are designed to meet students at their current level of understanding and build upon it.
- VAC shared with the members details of the successful 2023 Veterans’ week, outlining a broad range of events held throughout Canada and internationally.
- The advisory group discussed the opportunities and challenges of reaching older, secondary school students with educational experiences; members expressed the importance of developing additional ways of reaching older students, given the successful VAC engagement with elementary and middle schools in recent years.
Commemorative banner program
The Commemorative banner program is a joint initiative, developed in partnership with Heritage Canada.
- The program focuses on geographic themes of CAF Around the world.
- The focus in 2024 will be on CAF in Africa; a title banner is being introduced depicting the African continent on a globe As per past years, banners will also have images of people in uniform to recognize the service related to the missions of CAF in Africa. Continued engagement with CAG will unfold as designs for 2025 banners are being developed.
The group expressed their enthusiasm and approval of the globe imagery and a suggestion was made to incorporate the globe imagery in the learning materials.
The advisory group members discussed the Afghanistan monument. The VAC co-chair provided information on the progress of the project and ensured that the advisory group will be kept informed of future developments. The Government of Canada is committed to moving forward and building a monument that resonates with Veterans and those who participated in the mission. We continue to work collaboratively with Canadian Heritage and the National Capital Commission to ensure the effective development of this national monument.
Next steps and closing remarks
The VAC Co-Chair expressed gratitude for everyone's contributions to a productive meeting. The group will meet virtually January 24 to continue their discussions and address the priorities assigned by the Minister.