Looking To The Future In Winnipeg

Standing under the shadow of Golden Boy, the famed statue on top of the Manitoba Legislature Building, Manitoba–Northwestern Ontario Command President Roland Fisette said, “This parade is only a rehearsal for next year.”

The parade he was referring to was the one that would open the 44th Manitoba– Northwestern Ontario Command convention held June 14-16 in Winnipeg. Next year referred to the parade which will kick off the 43rd dominion convention when it is held in Winnipeg in 2010.

And so it was with an eye on the future that the command met in the historic Marlborough Hotel in downtown Winnipeg where veterans organizations gathered in 1925 for the unity conference that led to the founding of The Royal Canadian Legion.

The parade went well under sunny skies in the cool morning air as delegates paraded in front of the Legislature building and down the avenue leading to the city’s cenotaph for a wreath-placing ceremony.

Back at the hotel, opening ceremonies went on with Chairman Harris Bray acting as master of ceremonies.

Dominion Vice-President Erl Kish brought greetings from Dominion Command as did local politicians.

The guest speaker was John Perrin, the manager of the Marlborough Hotel, who gave a thorough history of the founding meeting.  The hotel which originally opened as the Olympia Hotel in 1914, had many connections to Canada’s military past, including serving as a barracks for the 184th Battalion raised during the First World War.

It was renamed the Marlborough Hotel after John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, who was a distinguished British leader during the 1700s. Next year during the convention, the Historic Monuments and Places Board is expected to unveil a plaque in the hotel formally recognizing the founding of the Legion as an historic event.

Business began Monday morning with Lieutenant-Governor John Harvard addressing delegates. “The Legion is a landmark in every town in Manitoba. Your work unites generations from Second World War veterans to schoolchildren,” he said.

After the viceregal welcome, delegates got down to business. Before nominations for elections could begin Constitution and Laws Chairman Rick Bennett had to go through some changes the executive was recommending to be more efficient and save costs.

One resolution was that the nominating committee which normally made recommendations for elections be eliminated, requiring all candidates to be nominated from the floor. The key resolution was that the position of vice-chairman be eliminated. It carried with little argument.

A non-concurred resolution was brought back immediately following that which would also eliminate the elected position of sergeant-at-arms.

Past President Roger Oakley was quick to defend the position. “We are a veterans organization and we stand by tradition in this command. I think we should be proud to have a unique opportunity by having an elected sergeant-at-arms.”

When Bray asked the question both sides responded loudly but when he called for a stand-up vote it was clear the resolution was defeated.

The 205 accredited delegates also dealt with several other resolutions. They voted that city, municipal, volunteer, territorial, provincial and federal emergency response service members be accepted as associate members of the Legion. As well, they called on Dominion Command to restore the practice of dipping the Canadian flag during remembrance ceremonies. Another resolution called on Veterans Affairs Canada to set aside a year to be declared Year of the Military Spouse.

Honorary Treasurer Patrick Moore recommended that the per capita tax for the command be raised by $2 beginning the next year. That caused a flurry of questions from the floor. When asked what a $1 increase would mean to projected budgets for 2010 and 2011, Moore said there would still be a small surplus in 2010 and a nil, or break-even,  budget in 2011.

The motion was amended to increase the levy by $1 and easily carried.

A tough look at the command structure will be taken in 2011 after delegates agreed to a resolution for the chairman of the Constitution and Laws Committee to chair a special committee to analyse and recommend a new administrative and organizational structure with the intention of reducing the number of districts and zones at the next provincial command  convention.

Dominion Vice-President Kish gave an overview on Dominion Command concerns. “Our veterans both old and new are looking to us for guidance and support on a number of issues and we must give that support and guidance to them. That is our main reason for being. We must now stop our procrastination and form a plan of action, not sit around and argue about trivial things. We have to ‘git R done’ if we are going to attract our current serving and retiring members into the fold. This is one of the reasons we have started the current veterans unity initiative.”

Veterans Affairs Canada Manitoba District Director Diane Peterson-Razos discussed veterans issues in the province. “Today, VAC is proud to serve over 219,000 clients nationally. In Manitoba, we have close to 50 staff members serving over 10,000 clients in our two offices—in Winnipeg and Brandon,” she said. “In Manitoba approximately 75 per cent of our clientele consists of war-service veterans and survivors. We currently serve over 3,700 war service clients and almost 4,000 survivors. We also serve over 2,200 Canadian Forces clients and this number is growing.

“Nationally, Canadian Forces clients represent 23 per cent of client base. On average about 4,000 Canadian Forces members are released per year, with an average age of 37,” she added.

Cheryl McCallum of Dryden, Ont., Branch received a standing ovation for her speech and photos as the command representative for the 2007 Youth Leaders’ Pilgrimage of Remembrance.

Speaking as chairman of the Public Relations Committee, Fisette said two incidents had resulted in the Legion getting great free publicity. In one case, a Warehouse One store had asked the Legion to remove its box for poppy donations. “Somehow the media found out about this and had a field day. I did interviews with local TV news stations and a radio phone-in talk show. The public was shocked and outraged that a store would do this. The comments made by the public would make anyone proud to be a Legionnaire,” he said.

The other incident was that the Canadian Football League had scheduled a game on Remembrance Day with a kickoff at noon. It was later discovered that it was against the law in Manitoba to hold a sporting event before 1 p.m. on Nov. 11. “They had to change the time to 1 p.m. Winnipeg Stadium staff contacted me and requested 20,000 poppies to be given out to patrons attending the game. They presented us with a cheque for $10,000 for the poppy campaign on the field at half-time.”

On a more unfortunate note, he said the command paper, The Tribute, was unsuccessful and is no longer being published. It will be replaced be a computer bulletin board with notices and pictures on the command website.

Kish also ran the elections. First Vice Gordon Walker of Dauphin Branch was acclaimed president after Fisette, a member of St. James Branch in Winnipeg, declined to run for a second term.

It was a two-way race for first vice between vice-presidents Rick Bennett of Fort Garry Branch in Winnipeg and John Villers of Wheat City Branch in Brandon. Although nominated, Vice-President Dan Kidd of West Kildonan Branch in Winnipeg declined to run. When the ballots were counted Bennett was declared the winner.

Four candidates ran for the three positions of vice-president. Incumbents Villers and Kidd were returned and join newcomer Darwin Armstrong of Transcona Branch in Winnipeg after a race with David Shillingford of Fort Garry Branch.

Patrick Moore of St. James Branch was unopposed for another term as honorary treasurer and Harris Bray was returned as chairman in a contest with Gerry Belanger of Selkirk Branch.

With sergeant-at arms being retained as an elected position, incumbent Dennis Harvie of St. James Branch was re-elected in a contest with Len Johnson of Henderson Highway Branch in Winnipeg.

Vice-Chairman George Lee was nominated for several other positions since the vice-chairman position had been eliminated by the earlier vote. He declined them all noting, “I have been a member for 61 years and 22 of them I’ve spent on the executive. I would think you would be glad of getting rid of me.” Delegates responded with a standing ovation for his service.

Gord Walker made a brief speech accepting the position of president saying he was honoured as an associate member to be elected to lead the command.

Delegates will next meet in 2011 in Brandon.