16 May 2023, 13:00 – 15:30 (ET)
Virtual via Microsoft Teams
Commemoration advisory group members
- Simon Coakeley
- Dr. Steve Harris, Directorate of History and Heritage, Department of National Defence
- Robert Jardine
- Captain (Retired) Ray Kokkonen, Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association
- Major (Retired) Gerry Wharton, Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans in Canada
- Dr. Lee Windsor, University of New Brunswick Gregg Centre (Co-chair)
- Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) Freeman Chute, Royal Canadian Legion (new member)
- Andree Gracie
- Derrill Henderson, National Council of Veteran Associations in Canada and Hong Kong Veterans Association of Canada
- Caitlin Bailey, Vimy Foundation
Guests
- Paul Lopes, Thinking Big (Digital Plan presentation)
- Erin Linkletter, Veterans Affairs Canada (Digital Plan presentation)
- Sam Chong-Luke (Digital Plan presentation)
- Alexandre D. Asselin
Veterans Affairs Canada Officials
- Paul Thomson, Director General, Commemoration Division (Co-chair)
- Sylvie Thibodeau-Sealy, Director, Policy, Learning and Recognition, Commemoration Division
- Rob Walker, Special Projects Advisor, Policy Learning and Recognition, Commemoration Division
- Amanda Kelly, Acting Program Manager, Policy Learning and Recognition, Commemoration Division
- Jeff Gallant, Manager Engagement and Events
- Lisa Matte, Project Officer, Engagements and Events
Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs
- John Embury, Director of Communications
Regrets
- John Moses
- Anne Hurtubise
Welcome and opening remarks
The VAC co-chair is looking forward to the next in-person meeting of the advisory group and has commented on the value those meetings provide to the team as a whole. Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Freeman Chute was also presented as the new member of the Commemoration Advisory Group to replace Danny Martin, who left the group for retirement.
Land acknowledgement
The VAC Co-chair welcomed the members and offered a land acknowledgement recognizing that we are all on sacred land, subject to numerous treaties.
Veteran licence plates
John Embury from the Minister’s office led a discussion on the concept of Veteran licence plates and the inconsistencies in licence plate eligibility requirements across Canada. There are distinct provincial requirements, particularly for members with fully served.
Veterans week poster
Amanda Kelly, Acting National Program Manager of the Commemoration Division of the Policy, Learning, and Recognition Directorate provided an overview of the Veterans Week poster. The theme of this year’s poster commemorates the 75th anniversary of United Nations Peacekeeping and is titled "Canadian Peacekeeping Around the World." In addition to including all branches of service on the back of the poster, it also highlights the various peacekeeping missions Canada was involved in. The inclusion of a QR code on the poster was primarily intended to reach individuals with limited access to information, and the QR code is intended for smartphone use in particular. A member suggested that using the ’hovering’ functionality from the 2021 poster over a map to signify where peacekeeping missions were and what they entailed would be useful. Another suggestion was to include a list of countries in which Canada has served, as well as information regarding the Afghanistan Peace Keeping Mission.
Modern day Veteran (standing item)
The group discussed the criteria that should be specified for future requests for engraving on the National War Memorial (NWM) in Ottawa. While the group did not support engraving any future mission on the memorial, there were many ideas discussed on what could be done to recognize the service and sacrifice of those missions that are not named on the NWM. This included plaques at the memorial site, gardens, a separate standalone monument.
CAF around the world - Modern Veterans
Amanda Kelly briefed the group on ’CAF Around the World - Modern Veterans,’ the ideas and strategy around commemorating and recognizing modern Veterans. A member indicated more needs to be done in terms of commemoration and recognition throughout the year and not just during Veterans Week. Another suggestion was to provide outreach materials in other languages other than English and French to reach out to specific populations.
Closing remarks
- Plans are in place for face-to-face meeting scheduled for October 2023 in Charlottetown, PEI.
- The VAC Co-chair thanked Ray Kokkonen, Greg Mitchell, and the CPVA for their tremendous contributions for the May 29 event – International Day of United Peacekeepers.
- John Embury thanked the group regarding their input on Veterans licence plates.
- Thanks extended to Sylvie Thibodeau-Sealy and her team’s efforts on the CAF Around the World strategy.
- VAC Co-chair welcomed new member and thanked the group for their active participation in today’s meeting.