My name is Ed Mortimer. I am a veteran with more than 10 years of service in the Canadian Armed Forces, although I have never served overseas.
The Royal Canadian Legion has served veterans since its inception, honouring those who have served Canada in the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP.
The organization helps veterans, providing needed services for all sorts of reasons and acting as a social organization for the mental and social well-being of veterans and their families.
It is a sign that someone cares, which is even more important than the physical things the Legion provides. The Legion also contributes to the community as a service organization.
Forbidding the flying of the Legion flag and the Red Ensign (and incidentally also the United Nations flag, which many veterans and RCMP veterans also served) is, in effect, denying the very support and acknowledgement for their services to Canada.
Yes, forbidding the flags is not a tangible denial of the Legion's services or a tangible detriment to the veterans themselves. It is a symbol that people no longer care about veterans and their services to Canada or the Legion's support of the community.
The Neutral Spaces Bylaw was presented as being fair, so no group can use municipal property to further their own agenda. In reality, it is an attempt to muzzle people and prevent showing support for others. The bylaw has an agenda of targeting specific groups with which some may not agree, but the effect goes far beyond that. Of course, the plebiscite didn't mention any specific group, couching the wording in neutrality for all, but the reality was quite different.
The effect of the bylaw contradicts the efforts of many over decades to acknowledge the sacrifices that veterans made to Canada and each person living here. One only has to look where the flags were: the Cenotaph, where the names of many who served are inscribed, in the Memorial Park. The flags were a moving symbol of that service, and now, because they must be removed, that symbol is reduced in visibility and impact.
The bylaw is a done deal, and Barrhead must wait at least a year to reexamine the issue. I hope that during this time, the people of Barrhead can reflect upon the damaging message that such a bylaw sends, especially concerning the service willingly made by the veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP. I am sad that my community feels that way.
Ed Mortimer
Barrhead
