Articles by Author

Looking over the wreaths placed on the National War Memorial in Ottawa for The Royal Canadian Legion’s 42nd dominion convention, Honorary Dominion Command Chaplain Rabbi Reuven Bulka made a plea to people to join the organization he called “an army for good.”

It was a phrase that would echo several times throughout the June 21-25 convention that brought 1,357 delegates to the Ottawa Congress Centre, situated a short distance from Parliament Hill. “It is fitting that you have chosen to hold your convention here,” said Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson during the opening ceremonies. “That you are meeting in the […]

It was a historic moment for The Royal Canadian Legion, and while the groundwork had been laid prior to the 42nd dominion convention, the tone for the governance debate was set early by Dominion President Jack Frost. “The future of the Legion lies in our hands, not just with Dominion Command,” he told the more than 1,350 delegates assembled in the Ottawa Congress Centre for the June 21-25 meeting. “I want you to hear what your comrades have to say and make your decision.”

At issue was the very structure of Dominion Executive Council, the Legion’s governing body between its […]

When Jerry Hull of LaSalle, Que., and Bernie Miller of Orangeville, Ont., faced each other in the first round of the singles event in the 2008 Dominion Command Darts Championships in Winnipeg, it was hard to tell these would be the players to notice.

Miller won that match two games to one but soon after that it was obvious these two were the players to watch as they went on to play their eight other opponents in the round robin play.

“I was aware of him and he was watching me all through the games,” said Miller, a member of Col. Fitzgerald […]

Governor General Michaëlle Jean invoked the image of crowds lining up on Parliament Hill to pay their respects to Smokey Smith VC as he lay in state in 2005 when she unveiled Canada’s own Victoria Cross on May 16.

“The line stretched all the way to Wellington Street. The decoration captured the imagination of an entire country,” she said. “The British Victoria Cross is the highest degree of recognition one could hope to receive in the course of a lifetime. And there are but a few who have received it just over a century and a half.”

Nearly 100 Canadians have received […]

The National Memorial Centre, a place where solemn remembrance, state ceremonies and private services in many faiths can be held, has opened in Ottawa directly adjacent to the National Military Cemetery of the Canadian Forces.

Prominent among the centre’s elements is a Hall of Colours where Canada’s proud regiments and units can retire their colours and flags with dignity. The hall was made possible through a donation of $50,000 from Dominion Command of The Royal Canadian Legion in light of the Legion’s historical commitment to Canada’s ships, regiments and squadrons.

The central component of the National Memorial Centre is a 14,000-square-foot, nine-sided […]

Prime Minister Stephen Harper used the annual seminar of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute in Ottawa to announce a compromise with the Opposition Liberals to extend Canada’s mission to Afghanistan until 2011.

The proposed extension came as the government’s reaction to the report of the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan chaired by former foreign affairs minister John Manley. The Liberals had put forward a number of amendments to the government motion.

Harper’s surprise move was to withdraw the original motion and put forward a new motion which strongly reflected the intention of the Liberal amendments. “We have examined […]

More widows and other survivors of Canadian veterans will be eligible to receive benefits under the Veterans Independence Program with a $282 million boost announced by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in his Feb. 26 budget.

VIP is a national home-care program that helps low-income veterans with disabilities and their spouses remain healthy and independent in their own homes instead of moving into a costly, less friendly, long-term care facility.

The Royal Canadian Legion and other veterans groups have succeeded in getting Veterans Affairs Canada to extend housekeeping and grounds maintenance benefits to the survivors of veterans who were already receiving VIP benefits. […]

When one of Canada’s famed Snowbirds aerobatic team members died in a stunning plane crash last year, American veterans in Montana felt they could not overlook the tragedy in their own back yard.Captain Shawn McCaughey died May 18 while the team was practising for an air show at the Malmstrom Air Force Base, near Great Falls, Mont. While the accident made headlines in Canada and led to a temporary suspension of the Snowbirds regular air demonstration schedule, local veterans thought it was fitting that the Canadian pilot be honoured on their local memorial.“He was a brother,” said Sam Pappas, the […]

The federal government has agreed to offer a one-time ex gratia payment of $20,000 to those who suffered as a result of testing with Agent Orange and other chemicals at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in the 1960s.

The announcement was made Sept. 12 in Fredericton by newly […]

Anyone visiting one of the cemeteries maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission will be struck by the beauty and simplicity and the uniformity of the place.

But maintaining that look is an ongoing challenge for the commission. Much of the work is done in the town of Beaurains, near Arras in northern France.

Pilgrims on the The Royal Canadian Legion’s Youth Leaders Pilgrimage of Remembrance glimpsed the amount and quality of work when it visited the war graves commission’s workshops while on the tour in July (The Remembrance Odyssey, November/December).

The commission which celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2007, oversees […]