Hon. Marty Deacon: Honourable senators, last Thursday, any of you walking past Ottawa City Hall would have seen an impressive array of uniformed soldiers and athletes congregating in the main hall. It was at this event that the True Patriot Love foundation briefed key parties on their preparations for the 2025 Invictus Games that will be held in Vancouver and Whistler. Here, they highlighted the impact and legacy that the games will have on service members, veterans and their families from around the world.

The Invictus Games continue to inspire our veterans to reach new heights since their founding in 2014. They have demonstrated the important healing power of sport while also generating a wider understanding and respect for those who have served their country. Many of us in the chamber have had the honour of sitting down with our veterans to hear their stories and find out how so many have struggled upon returning home. Sometimes, you can see these injuries, but other times they are quite hidden.

Operational stress injuries like PTSD run high in our returning soldiers, and while we’ve made advances in how these can be treated, there is still so much work to do. Adaptive sport has been shown to be a powerful tool in the recovery process. It gets our injured veterans engaged and active. It gives them a goal to work for and allows them to once again don a uniform of the country they so proudly served.

The games are also uniquely focused on the family and friends of those who are competing. In 2015, I met hundreds of family members along with Invictus athletes. They stayed with the athletes, which is a very unique games model. The Invictus movement is about helping not just the service member in their recovery but also the family. I will recall fondly my time with the Prime Minister meeting our Invictus team in the rotunda of Centre Block way back in 2018 shortly before they boarded their Invictus flight to Australia.

The 2025 games in Vancouver and Whistler will be remarkable. This being Canada, it will be the first ever winter Invictus Games, opening up a number of new events for our veterans from around the world to train for. In their preparations, games organizers are also working alongside the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Lí’lwat Nations on whose traditional territories the games will be held. This furthers the recommendations laid out in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and ensures Indigenous protocols are respected in all aspects of the games.

Colleagues, the word “invictus” means “unconquered.” It embodies the fighting spirit of ill and injured service personnel and what these tenacious men and women can achieve post‑injury. I think we can all agree that those who compete have already overcome obstacles many of us will thankfully never face. Their bravery and valour in their service to our country have already marked them for excellence. It will be an honour for our country to host them in 2025, and I am certain everyone in this chamber will join me in wishing them the best in their training and preparation for these games.

Thank you. Meegwetch.

Hon. Marty Deacon: Good afternoon, honourable senators. As the sun shines, there is certainly a solid feeling of renewed energy here in Ottawa and across this beautiful country. This weekend, Ottawa hosted many performing arts events and activities in the downtown area. There were a variety of performing arts activities taking place, particularly in hotel rooms with young performers. They were inspiring. They were phenomenal to see and hear. Outside, Ottawa calls this race weekend, and all of this was not to be for sure until late Wednesday night, early Thursday. The debris of the storm, and the damage done, had a serious impact on whether or not race weekend could carry on after a two-year absence. But finally, and with great thanks to the city, the mayor, the city staff and Ottawa Hydro, they were able to make the race course as smooth as possible even for people a little older than usual to navigate their way through on the weekend.

You could feel the streets alive, feel the streets coming back and the feeling that Ottawa folks were just thrilled to be together, whether it was families or folks at the front of their houses. The signs that people made for the community were absolutely embracing, engaging and phenomenal — and also very funny at times.

This is a great prelude to National Health and Fitness Day, which is Saturday, June 4. This is our week leading up to it.

Senators, I urge you to look after yourselves first and how we find that balance with our physical, emotional and mental health. I encourage you to get out, be active and find best what works for you.

The bill that was passed for National Health and Fitness Day was passed with the intent of us, parliamentarians, working with the House and our communities to do our very best to make sure the support, infrastructure and things that we need are there to ensure every Canadian — every Canadian — has the opportunity to be active.

So beyond this, and looking to some examples of this, tomorrow we’re going to have a special group of guests in the Senate. I’m really delighted to be able to host them, and you will certainly be introduced to them.

It is an example of where folks take the lead and find activities that work best for young people. So here in Ottawa, and in our local community, there is the first, frankly, women’s tackle football team. Yes, it is, and you have to really think about that. Made up of athletes from St. Mark High School and St. Joseph High School, under the leadership of their coaches Blaine and Andy, they are doing something very special. These girls are in the sport that is the last sport to have an equal opportunity in the province of Ontario in all sports. They are very excited about visiting. They are a great example about being active and finding ways to make it all work. I’m giving them an early welcome, but I also welcome all of you to be reminded of National Health and Fitness Day. Thank you, meegwetch.

Hon. Marty Deacon: Honourable senators, this question is for the government representative. In February, not too long ago, it was National Flag of Canada Day. This, of course, coincided with the convoy occupation in Ottawa and similar protests across the country, where the flag was utilized in ways that many found unsettling. The Royal Canadian Legion, for instance, condemned the way it was being used. To this day, there are a number of Canadians who have reached out to tell us that they have removed their flag from prominence in and about their homes.

As you will also recall, Canada Day celebrations last year were subdued by choice in some communities. With Canada Day again just around the corner, I worry that too many Canadians are also now looking at our flag in a different way.

Today I ask what is being done by the government to reclaim the symbolism of the Canadian flag and Canada Day that respects the history and past of all Canadians. We want the flag and Canada Day to be a symbol of peace, order, inclusion and good government for all Canadians.