White poppy debate
Posted Nov 4, 2010 04:09:36 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Royal Canadian Legion has entered a fresh battle with peace activists, who claim that red remembrance day poppies sold by veterans romanticize war.
The activists are selling white poppies they say symbolize non-violent conflict resolution.
The Royal Canadian Legion says the white poppy infringes on its trademark red one and detracts from November’s solemn ceremonies.
Bob Berg, spokesperson for Legion Branch 530 tells 570’s Jeff Allan Show he doesn’t really get it. He believes the peace activists are taking advantage of the situation to sell their spin on things.
In the Legion’s defense, Berg says they don’t romanticize the effects of war. They show certain pictures to really hammer the message home that, “this is what happens when you put the hand on the burner.”
Berg questions what happens to the funds collected from the sale of the white poppy. He wants to see receipts, and wonders where the money ends up.
According to proponents of the white poppy, they are meant to amplify Remembrance Day ceremonies, not oppose them. And, Canadians “need to expand the window of what we remember and grieve on Remembrance Day”.
At the end of the day, the Royal Canadian Legion says a poppy by any other colour is still their property, and that they are just trying to protect their trademark.
