Q & A

The question was in the air at this year’s dominion convention in Edmonton: what did the future have in store for The Royal Canadian Legion? To get a sense of what Legionnaires were thinking, we conducted some random interviews—both at convention and after—asking them to tell us what they thought of the Legion’s future.

Jack Esselment, Hagersville, Ont., Branch
“I believe there’s no more important organization than the RCL. One of our challenges is to sustain and to do that we have to get new members, we have to educate the public as to what we’re all about and entice them to join the Legion to make sure this great organization carries on. I think that’s our biggest challenge. We’re losing people left, right and centre and the challenge for our branch is to get the people in there and make them understand what it’s all about.”

Roland Fisette, St. James Branch, Winnipeg
“If we keep trying and refuse to give up, then it’s going to be fine. It’s hard because the branches are suffering and command is tightening its belt, and we finally are sending a message that Dominion Command has to tighten their belt as well. I can see the Legion surviving, but it’s going to have to change and adapt.”

Ted Martens, St. Peter’s, N.S., Branch
“The future of the Legion as it stands today doesn’t look great membership-wise. Times are changing and young people are no longer interested in going to the Legion. It’s not like the old times when we had lots of veterans in there. The membership process needs to be shortened and made easier. The RCL needs to rethink the way they run their convention, it’s too long and there are too many speakers! They have to start rethinking the way they’re doing things.”

Arlene Kemble, Cadomin, Alta., Branch
“I believe in the future of the Legion because it’s an organization that will keep on going and working.”