SPEAKING NOTES FOR MEMBERS OF THE LEGION ON THE OCCASION OF THE POPPY CAMPAIGN

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1 SPEAKING NOTES FOR MEMBERS OF THE LEGION ON THE OCCASION OF THE POPPY CAMPAIGN 28 OCT 11 NOV 2016

2 Acknowledge host and special guests As Heather Robertson wrote in her book entitled: A Terrible Beauty, The Art of Canada at War, We must remember. If we do not, the sacrifice of those one hundred thousand Canadian lives will be meaningless. They died for us, for their homes and families and friends, for a collection of traditions they cherished and a future they believed in; they died for Canada. The meaning of their sacrifice rests with our collective national consciousness; (and) our future is their monument. As Veterans pass on, their once highly visible presence will also disappear. The Legion s National Poppy Campaign and Remembrance Day represent an important period of time when the Legion reinforces the idea about Canada s obligation to those who have served and paid the supreme sacrifice and to ensure that the tradition of Remembrance continues to play a meaningful role in our way of life.

3 There are some Canadians that may take our commitments to the principles of justice, democracy and universal human rights for granted. It is our obligation as Canadians and as members of the Legion to remember that our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters that have served and fought in the Canadian Armed Forces or the RCMP in times of war or on UN Peace Support Operations did so in the belief that our way of life, based on freedom, was being threatened. We need to remember their service and we need to honour their ultimate sacrifice. In all, according to statistics, more than 117,000 Canadians have selflessly paid the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country. All are worthy of our gratitude for they, at the call of their country, left all that was dear to them, faced danger and extreme hardships, much too often, died and faded out of sight of all Canadians through their self-sacrifice. They gave up their lives so others could continue to live in freedom and be proud to be Canadian!

4 The Legion takes comfort in the fact that the Legion s mission to perpetuate Remembrance on November 11 th has never wavered to this day. It has not wavered because Remembrance Day is the Day the Legion and a grateful nation remembers Canada s fallen in ALL Wars, peace support operations and training exercises. We do so because their sacrifice has made us into the country that we know, enjoy and love today. The Legion has a solemn duty to ensure that Canadians overwhelmingly find Remembrance Day as relevant today as when it began nearly a century ago. By doing so we will reassure the approximately 685,300 Canadian Veterans: 75,900 from the Second World War, 9,100 from the Korean War and 600,300 from subsequent peace support operations including at least 40,000 Afghanistan War Veterans that we care.

5 But Remembrance Day is more than just a debt to Canada s Fallen Heroes. Former Senator and retired Lieutenant-General Dallaire said it best when he addressed Legion delegates at the 37 th Dominion Convention when he stated: I don t think there was a better invention ever thought of in regards to providing veterans and those who came back from living the traumas and the stresses and strains of battle, and seeing the horror of war, than the institution called The Royal Canadian Legion. Dallaire s statement highlights two main features about the Legion and its original intent best described in the monthly magazine called The Veteran dated October 10 th, 1925: First, to provide "the disabled and dependent" with the care and support "of those most capable of understanding their problems" and to advocate for their proper care in future; and second to provide Canada with "a strong unifying force of men and women from coast to coast whose ties of association are deeper than those of economic

6 necessity and surmount the barriers of sectionalism, racial origins and creed." Indeed, the Legion has an extraordinary history of comradeship. For those who have served at war or peace support operations, those who comeback and seek friendship, The Legion is a place for veterans and their families that provides comfort and the solace of being able to communicate and in some case be able to survive the next day with those memories still haunting them. This statement helps explain why the Legion remains Canada s largest veterans based community organization with nearly 300,000 members in more than 1,400 branches in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe. Allow me to highlight some initiatives that the Legion is pursuing in order to remain as relevant as ever to our Veterans, and our communities.

7 OSI Special Section This past year, The Royal Canadian Legion created the Operational Stress Injury Special Section. The establishment of the OSI Special Section will facilitate Veterans and their families affected by Operational Stress Injuries to get the medical care they need and help to focus research and education about OSI and help to de-stigmatize OSI. Invictus Games 2017 Orlando 2016 and now Toronto The Royal Canadian Legion announced its commitment to further supporting the recovery of ill and injured Veterans by becoming a signature sponsor for the Invictus Games Toronto Veteran Support The Royal Canadian Legion renewed its contract with Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) allowing trained and security screened Legion volunteers to visit up to 6,800 Canadian Veterans in almost 1,400 facilities on an annual basis.

8 These are Veterans that are being supported by VAC in various long term care facilities across the country. Support to Deployed CAF Personnel and RCMP Members Twice a year, the Legion also provides gift bags to all deployed Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP personnel Christmas and Canada Day. National Poppy Campaign The annual Poppy campaign continues to be our most important calling of the Legion, with more than 21 million poppies and supporting materials distributed in It is estimated $17million (Cdn) was spent across Canada on veterans in need from the 2014 campaign. The need remains and we remain committed to helping our veterans through our Service Bureau network. National Foundation This year the Legion has created the Legion National Foundation to: Promote the effectiveness, efficiency, and morale of the active and retired members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and their families

9 Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League Continuing today, the Royal Canadian Legion supports 103 Commonwealth veterans and 108 veterans widows in the Caribbean region in 16 different countries. These veterans served the Crown during WWII. We also work with Allied Veterans and/or their families or widows in financial need who live in Canada. Homeless veterans In 2012, the Legion established a national homeless Veterans program called Leave the Streets Behind, based on the ground breaking work of Ontario Command. The program s mission is to reach out to homeless Veterans, or near homeless Veterans, by providing immediate financial assistance and support when and where needed. It also connects them with the appropriate social and community services to establish a long term solution to meet their needs.

10 All told, the Legion, spearheaded by its Service Bureau Network, has helped thousands of Homeless and near Homeless Veterans since the program began. I highlight these initiatives to show you that The Royal Canadian Legion continues to make great strides toward better support of our veterans and their families because it also has a duty to the living! While the number of our Fallen Heroes is relatively easy to count, the same may not be said about the number of Canadian Veterans that have come back broken either physically, mentally or both during these same conflicts. By wearing the Poppy, our Veterans and all Canadians will see that their efforts and sacrifices are not in vain. They will truly know that We Will Remember Them and that We will always care for them! During the Legion s national Poppy Campaign and Remembrance Day ceremony we invite all Canadians to Join the Legion, wear a Poppy!