IN THE NEWS

IN THE IN THE NEWS

59 NEWS VIMY ANNIVERSARY

COMMEMORATED

IN THE CAPITAL

By Stephen J. Thorne

60 NEW BUILDING GIVES BRANCH NEW LIFE

By Stephen J. Thorne

61 VAC FREEING UP BEDS

IN VETERANS’ WINGS

By Sharon Adams

61 SERVING YOU

62 SUSPENSE BUILDS

DURING CRIBBAGE

CHAMPIONSHIPS

By Sharon Adams

64 NEW BRUNSWICK

TEAM TAKES THE

DARTS TROPHY

By Stephen J. Thorne

66 MEMBERSHIP

INITIATIVES BECOME

A PRIORITY

67 ALSO HEARD AT DEC

68 DISABILITY AWARD

IMPROVEMENTS

COME INTO EFFECT

By Sharon Adams

68 OBITUARY

FRED

MOMBOURQUETTE

Cadets stand guard overnight before the morning ceremony commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Vimy anniversary commemorated in the capital

By Stephen J. Thorne

Ottawa, the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge was marked by army cadets standing guard overnight at the National War Memorial.

The vigil began with an evening ceremony during which 3,598 candles were placed at the memorial—one for each Canadian killed. A light show projected images of the Vimy Memorial onto the cenotaph until midnight.

The overnight watch by the Army Cadet League of Canada commemorated the night soldiers spent waiting in the trenches before going over the top at Vimy on April 9, 1917.

It was followed by a Sunday morning ceremony. Sentries were posted at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The official commemorative ceremony included readings, musical performances and a smudging ceremony.

“We have a duty, 100 years later during Canada’s 150th

IN anniversary of Confederation, to remain committed to remembering those who answered the call to serve and, by doing so, helped to build our country’s legacy,” said Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna. “Their sacrifice helped ensure every Canadian today would have a future. We will remember them.” Lieutenant-Colonel Don Perrin was attending the ceremony two days before he retired from a 43-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces. The Winnipeg-born combat engineer is fourth-generation military. His grandfather, Cecil Perrin, fought at Vimy. He was also a combat engineer, or sapper. Perrin had his grandfather’s First World War medals, including a Volunteer Medal and a Service Medal with “Sapper C. Perrin” engraved on the edge. He was there, he said, to pay tribute to “those who made the ultimate sacrifice and to recognize what they did for us.” L

New building gives branch new life

By Stephen J. Thorne

President Bill Cox stands outside North Calgary Branch’s new building.

he Royal Canadian Legion’s North Calgary Branch has a new building, three new revenue streams T and a steady influx of new members—and it hasn’t cost a cent. This happy turn of events took root six years ago when the branch recognized that, like many urban

Legions, it was cash-poor and assetrich. Its 50-year-old building, sitting on an oversized plot of prime urban real estate, was falling apart and underutilized. The roof was leaking, the sewers were backing up and the membership rolls, which peaked at 5,000 in the 1970s, were depleted. The branch decided to make a trade: swap two-thirds of the property with a developer in exchange for a new building. But not just any new building.

This has a restaurant open to the public on the first floor—the 1918 Tap and Table, its name a coincidental combination of the

First World War’s end and its new address near Calgary’s Kensington Road NW—a members’ lounge on the second, and commercial office rentals on the third and fourth.

Instead of 15,000 square feet, North Calgary Branch now has more than 36,000. And instead of a single revenue stream, it now has three. Annual branch surpluses are expected to approach $1 million— money for the branch, community programs and other Legions alike.

With news of the Truman Developments project, membership applications started pouring in, 60 per cent of them from the local neighbourhood, said President Bill Cox. The buzz alone brought in 304 applications in four months, most of them from younger prospects.

With construction complete, the developer is now turning its attention to the building of 204 condominium units and retail space on its newly acquired share of the lot—and purchasing two Legion memberships per unit as part of the residents’ welcome package.

With the building’s opening at the end of May, the branch expects the trend to continue, if not accelerate. “What people are seeing is that there is new life in our community through our new building,” said Cox, noting that a lot of the brick and mortar of the old building has given way to an award-winning design with magnificent windows and light. “It’s far more open and the community likes that openness.”

It was not without its trials and tribulations, said Cox. Two developers walked away from the project before George Truman took up the cause and ran with it. The process of acquiring permits was a monumental challenge to the uninitiated, but Cox said the city was on board early.

The entire concept, he admits, is “out of the box.” But Cox and Dominion Treasurer Mark Barham, who as a trustee took the proposal to the branch executive in 2011, have every confidence it will work, not just on Kensington Road but elsewhere.

Barham says the model could work for many urban branches, and smaller ones, too. A branch in Canmore, Alta., is already launching a similar redevelopment.

“Similar things could happen in many urban centres because you’ve got other branches that are cash flow-poor and asset-rich,” said Barham. “Most of our facilities across the country are more than 50 years old and they’re really not that attractive.

“So if you have a newer facility, I think that starts to create enough community buzz that people are going to say, ‘Hey, I want to get involved over there; I want to go in there and see that.’” L

VAC freeing up beds in veterans’ wings

eterans Affairs Canada

is negotiating with 18 former federal veterans’ hospitals to open access for some modern veterans to longterm care beds that were restricted to traditional (Second World War and Korean War) veterans.

“I’m happy to say we’ve had initial discussions with all of the facilities,” said VAC Acting Senior Director Sandie Williamson. At press time, agreements had been reached with Camp Hill Veterans Memorial Building in Halifax and three facilities in Ontario: London’s Parkwood Hospital, Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Ottawa’s Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre.

“We are pleased to see (negotiations) to provide access to long-term care beds for a broader group of veterans,” said Dominion President Dave Flannigan of The Royal Canadian Legion.

Over the decades, as federal veterans’ hospitals have been transferred to provincial control, VAC negotiated a funding arrangement that would reserve a number of “contract beds” for traditional veterans, resulting in veteran-only units served by medical personnel experienced with the veteran culture. The provinces cover medical costs, and VAC, with some exceptions, picks up the cost of accommodation, meals and veterans’ programs.

Post-Korean War veterans eligible for VAC financial benefits and in need of long-term care have been

Vsupported in community beds. As the population of traditional veterans has decreased, contract bed vacancies have appeared. These beds can be used as preferredadmission beds for a broader cohort of veterans, said Williamson. These new beds may speed the process for veterans on waiting lists for community beds. VAC now supports about 6,200 veterans in some 1,500 nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the country. About a third of them are in contract beds in about 125 facilities. Though many modern veterans prefer to remain in community facilities close to friends and family, some do want access to facilities with other veterans. L

By Sharon Adams

SERVING YOU

SERVING YOU is written by Legion command service officers. To reach a service officer, call toll-free 1-877-534-4666, or consult a command website. For years of archives, visit www.legionmagazine.com

CCAFconnection.ca is a new Canadian Armed Forces website that brings the contents of the FamilyForce and CF Community Gateway websites under one URL. It connects CAF members and families to local Military Family Resource Centres (MFRCs) and personnel support programs under the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services through one single site. It improves and modernizes the way military members and their families access information and resources about local Canadian Armed Forces morale and welfare services.

Family members who used to go to CF Community Gateway to access local recreation schedules, mess hours and registration for programs, and then had to go to FamilyForce to find local MFRC programming can now go to a single destination. The site is easy to navigate, full of images of Canadian Armed Forces members and their families, with plenty of news and events. It uses a platform that lends itself to mobile technology, allowing for additional development of the site with new functionality and

New site, new connection options. The site automatically adjusts to whatever size screen you are looking at, including smart phones, tablets, laptops and PCs. The content is organized in two ways: by large audience groups, such as military personnel, veterans and families, parents and caregivers and families of the fallen; and by programming areas, such as deployment, child care, health care, housing and recreation. CAFconnection.ca is now live and content is regularly added. Comments on the new site can be sent to cafconnection@gmail.com. L

Suspense builds during cribbage championships

By Sharon Adams

he excitement at the 2017 Dominion Cribbage Championships, hosted by Norwood-St. Boniface Branch in Winnipeg April 28-30, lasted right to the end of the awards ceremony, as players in the team event agreed not to post scores during play, nor have the winning team announced until the closing banquet.

It is common for scores to be posted at the end of each two-game set during round-robin play at the national championships. As it becomes clear which teams are vying for top spot, players and spectators mill around the scoreboard hashing out possibilities under which those coming from behind could come out on top. And thus it was during the 2017 singles and doubles matches.

But when the team competition began Sunday, tournament co-ordinator Faye Lavack asked teams if they would agree to keeping mum on the winners. They did.

The suspense heightened camaraderie, since no one knew exactly how well their team was doing, said Nova Scotia/Nunavut’s Lewis Conrad, from Mersey Branch in Liverpool.

“Waiting until tonight…it’s good, it’s fun,” agreed Lorne Wihnan from Robert Combe VC Branch in Melville, Sask. “You’ve gotta have fun…that’s why we’re here.”

Team players noted several advantages. Players could concentrate on games without fretting over ranking. Enthusiasm lasted the whole day. Players on the four-person teams, which are divided into two sections, did not know how they were doing against other teams, nor how the other half of their own team was faring. And finally, it sped up play; the team competition was the only one to finish in the time allotted. “I really liked it,” said Paul Calhoun of team New Brunswick. “It made us really concentrate more.”

Calhoun and his daughter Sandra LeBlanc, Roger LeBlanc (no relation) and Dean McLaughlin from Marysville Branch in Fredericton, won the team competition with 35 points, 20 of which were won by the father-daughter pair. “We couldn’t have done much better,” Calhoun said. “We had an amazing day, couldn’t do anything wrong,” said Sandra.

But at the start, Roger LeBlanc and McLaughlin were trailing badly. “The first four games were something else altogether,” said LeBlanc. “We got double skunked by Nova Scotia and lost by 84 points.” They proved a bad start does not necessarily signal a bad finish.

The runner-up, with 24 points, was Nova Scotia/Nunavut: Bruce Clattenburg, Gwen and Lloyd Lowe and Lewis Conrad of Mersey Branch in Liverpool.

Saturday, when play kicked off shortly after opening ceremonies, players and spectators were able to follow every change in fortune. Play was round robin, two games per set, one point for a win, an extra point for a skunk (not passing the three-quarters mark) and two points double skunk (not passing the halfway point).

It took four sets for leaders to emerge in the doubles match. Arnie MacAskill and Dwight Baird from Lacombe, Alta., Branch, in their second nationals, were in

Tthe lead with eight points, thanks to two skunks against Dwight Moore and Leslie Watson from Kenora, Ont., Branch in ManitobaNorthwestern Ontario Command. But Barry Dillon and Rick Falle of Prince Edward Branch in Victoria and Roger LeBlanc and Dean McLaughlin of Marysville Branch were only one point behind.

“It seemed every time we lost the cut, we won the game,” said MacAskill. “And then we started winning the cut.” And losing games.

Ron Moore (top) of Gibsons, B.C., Branch wins the singles title in his first dominion championships. Rick Falle (left) and Barry Dillon of Prince Edward Branch in Victoria win their fourth doubles title in five years.

Team champions from Marysville Branch in Fredericton, (from left) Roger LeBlanc, Dean McLaughlin, Sandra LeBlanc and Paul Calhoun, are congratulated by Faye Lavack, president of host Norwood-St. Boniface Branch and chair of the Local Arrangements Committee.

Skunks in sets five and six put B.C./ Yukon in the lead, while MacAskill and Baird stalled at 11 points.

Coming out of set eight, New Brunswick, with 14 points, was only two behind B.C. But in the final set, the team scored but a single point, while B.C. pulled off a skunk to count three.

“In first place is B.C./Yukon, with 19 points,” announced Lavack, who was also Local Arrangements Committee chair and is branch president. Then she added: “I need to take that back,” she joked, “because everybody knows there’s no 19 in crib.”

It is the fourth time in five years that Barry Dillon and Rick Falle of Prince Edward Branch in Victoria have walked away with the doubles title. “We’ve been playing together seven, eight years,” said Falle. “We play the same style of cards, so that’s why we win,” Dillon said. But he looked at the board and added: “No goose eggs, that’s the trick; if you look at the scoreboard, everybody got goose eggs [zeros] except New Brunswick and us.”

There were plenty of goose eggs from the start of the singles competition Saturday afternoon. Ron Moore of Gibsons, B.C., Branch and Clattenburg of Mersey Branch both scored a healthy four, thanks to two skunks against their opponents in the opening set. For most of the match they were either tied for lead or within one point of one another. After six sets, they were tied at 12, their nearest competitor, Dave Lane of East Toronto Branch, trailing by three points.

In set seven, Clattenburg pulled ahead by two points when Moore blanked against Lane, but in the next set, Moore pulled off two more skunks to surge ahead to 16. Clattenburg was still within range of a win, if he could score two skunks while Moore blanked or scored one. But it was not to be. Final score: Moore 17, Clattenburg 14, tied with New Brunswick’s Sandra LeBlanc.

Moore, 81, was elated. “This is the very first time I’ve played the Dominions,” he said. “They are pretty competitive here. They are very good.”

Competitors ran the gamut in experience. Theresa Gallant, who was tournament co-ordinator for the 2016 championships held in Charlottetown, and her husband Paul, both of Wellington, P.E.I., Branch, were also competing nationally for the first time.

Doreen Rourke of Montcalm Memorial Branch in Rawdon, Que., was enjoying her second trip to Winnipeg; she emerged a 1999 team champion after her first visit, but has had no wins in four other dominion competitions. “This is my third time, and I’m still not a winner,” said her teammate, singles and team competitor John Garner. “Together we have more than 300 years of experience,” he joked at the banquet, “but it didn’t help as I’d hoped.”

Good food and fellowship marked the closing banquet. Lavack thanked her hard-working committee and kitchen staff. Dan Kidd brought greetings from Manitoba-Northwestern Ontario Command President Mel Willis.

“There are more than 20,000 crib players in the Legion, and you are the cream of the crop from right across Canada,” said Dominion Command Sports Committee Secretary Danny Martin, bringing greetings from Chair Angus Stanfield. “We want to congratulate everybody here.” L

CRIBBAGE RESULTS

TEAM: N.B. (Marysville Br., Fredericton) 35; N.S./Nunavut (Mersey Br., Liverpool, N.S.) 24; Alta.-N.W.T. (Lacombe Br.), Sask. (Robert Combe VC Br., Melville) 22; P.E.I. (Wellington Br.) 21; N.L. (Stephenville Br.), Ont. (East Toronto Br.) 19; Man.-N.W.O. (Fort Garry, Br., Winnipeg) 18; Que. (Montcalm Memorial Br., Rawdon) 17; B.C./Yukon (Lumby Br.) 15.

DOUBLES: B.C./Yukon (Prince Edward Br., Victoria) 19; N.B. (Marysville Br.) 15; Sask. (Carrot River Br.) 14; Alta.-N.W.T. (Lacombe Br.), Ont. (East Toronto Br.) 11; P.E.I. (Wellington Br.) 10; N.S./Nun. (Mersey Br., Liverpool, N.S.) 9; Man.-N.W.O. (Kenora Br., Ont.) 8; Que. (Montcalm Memorial Br.) 7; N.L. (Stephenville Br.) 6.

SINGLES: B.C./Yukon (Ron Moore, Gibsons Br.) 17; N.B. (Sandra LeBlanc, Marysville Br.), N.S./Nunavut (Bruce Clattenburg, Mersey Br.) 14; Ont. (Dave Lane, East Toronto Br.) 12; Man.-N.W.O. (Barry O’Donnell, St. James Br., Winnipeg) 9; N.L. (Lorraine Pittman, Stephenville Br.) 9; P.E.I. (Bernice Gallant, Wellington Br.) 8; Alta.-N.W.T. (Andy Gauthier, Lacombe Br.) 8; Sask. (Shiral Brown, Elrose Br.) 7; Que. (John Garner, Montcalm Memorial Br.) 6.

New Brunswick team takes the darts trophy

was an emotional

moment for Mark Hebert after he threw the winning dart for his team from Blacks Harbour, N.B., Branch at the Dominion Command Darts Championships on May 5-7.

Besides the darts, the entire weekend hosted by Eastern Irrigation District Branch in Brooks, Alta., was full of high spirits and old-fashioned camaraderie.

The four-man teams from New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador were locked in a tie at 19 points after two days of roundrobin play. New Brunswick took the first game in a best-of-three playoff to decide the winner and both teams were sitting on doubles to take the second.

“When I walked to the line, all I said was, ‘Dad, help me,’” said Hebert. “Just hit that one double—that’s all I was hoping for. And I hit the double-six.”

Hebert’s father, a merchant mariner and later a mechanic at the former Lantic Sugar refinery in Saint John, N.B., died 19 years ago. Hebert couldn’t hold back the tears amid the hugs, cheers and celebrations of teammates Ike Mullin, Derek Hanley and Scott Tracy that followed the swift victory over a steady team from Channel Branch in Port aux Basques, N.L.

“My team has been so incredible,” he said. “We’ve got two seconds and a third in the last four years and we just wanted to get lucky on one of them. We got fortunate, we hit the double and we went on from there.”

The Manitoba-Northwestern Ontario team of Scott Allan Sansom and Dean Corlett from Elmwood Branch in Winnipeg took the doubles title and Ontario’s Jim Long, hailing from Newbury Branch, took the singles.

“The competition was very stiff,” said Long, an autoworker from Ingersoll, Ont., who joined the Legion in

It 1998. “Then there’s the added pressure to do well for the guys you’re representing. But it was fun. They did an amazing job.” The players from Port aux Basques—Tom Brake, Guy Bobbett, Paul Osmond and Danny Cormier—led most of Sunday but couldn’t come up with one last win in the round-robin’s final game against Saskatchewan, to clinch the team title, forcing the playoff. The Sunday afternoon drama, followed by a prime rib banquet, wrapped a weekend of collegial competition, laughter and comaraderie for 50 players from 15 branches representing all 10 commands of The Royal Canadian Legion.

By Stephen J. Thorne

Singles champion Jim Long from Newbury Branch in Ontario.

Doubles champions Dean L. Corlett (left) and Scott Allan Sansom from Manitoba-Northwestern Ontario’s Elmwood Branch in Winnipeg.

DARTS RESULTS

It also represented the culmination of a lot of hard work by President Lloyd Hasper and his team of some 50 volunteers that began with price negotiations and room reservations 18 months before, then expanded out into the community and beyond. “The city was behind us 100 per cent,” said Hasper.

Dozens of sponsors signed on, providing food and support for the local Legion situated in the heart of oil, cattle and irrigation lands a 90-minute drive southeast of Calgary. Other branches chipped in. Chapelhow in Calgary and Vulcan Branch provided vans and drivers, while Redcliff Branch stepped up with a van.

Local media furnished free publicity. The Brooks air cadet squadron provided the colour party and catered Sunday’s banquet.

“This was a big deal around here,” said Hasper, who has belonged to six different Legion branches and served on the executives of four of them over the past 40 years. He wore a blue volunteer shirt and got down and dirty like everyone else.

“This Legion has got one of the best volunteer-based groups that I’ve been involved with. When push comes to shove, they’re all here to help us.”

Started by First World War veterans, Eastern Irrigation District Branch will be celebrating its 90th birthday next April. The town population was about 1,200 in 1928, but it would grow—and so would the Legion. It peaked at around 800 members before numbers fell off as the pictures with poppies attached began to take up more and more of the wall near the front door.

Home of the cutter bee—which pollinates area alfalfa crops— Brooks itself, population now 14,000, has faced hard times. Wells are only just getting back online after low oil prices forced shutdowns all over the region.

Elsie Bunney, 86, has been a member of the branch for 60 years. She came to the prairie town from Leader, Sask., to waitress at age 23 and oversaw branch dining staff for years. She was ladies auxiliary president twice and served as the branch’s assistant manager—briefly. “I didn’t like it,” she says. “I like to be out here with the people.”

Bunney has seen all the ups and downs. With the town’s growth came more competition for the dollar. These days, the branch is climbing back up. Thursday beer bag nights and Friday steak nights are bringing people in again. Membership is at 400, and growing. “We’ve got good food here,” she said.

Besides giving the branch a boost, Hasper noted, the tournament brought people together from across the country.

“We made a lot of good friends this weekend—and a lot of good friends leading up to it,” he said. “I’ve been talking to branches for months. So when they come in here, you feel like you know them and you can sit down and talk. You have good conversations about what other Legions do to make money.

“Our aim, as a branch, was to put on the best time we could for everybody, to make it a class act. And I think we’ve done that.” L

TEAM: N.B. (Blacks Harbour Br.) 21; N.L. (Channel Br., Port aux Basques) 19; AltaN.W.T. (Jubilee Br., Calgary) 16; Ont. (Thamesville Br.), Que. (Terrebonne Heights Br., Mascouche Heights) 14; Man.N.W.O. (Elmwood Br., Winnipeg) 13; N.S./Nunavut (Westville Br.) 12; B.C./Yukon (Kamloops Br.) 11; P.E.I. (Miscouche Br.) 10; Sask. (Nipawin) 7.

DOUBLES: Man.-N.W.O. (Elmwood Br.) 20; N.B. (Blacks Harbour Br.), N.S./Nunavut (Westville Br.) 17; Alta.-N.W.T. (Jubilee Br.) 16; Que. (Terrebonne Heights Br.) 14; Ont. (Bay Bridges Br., Pickering) 13; B.C./Yukon (Grandview Br., Vancouver), P.E.I. (Miscouche Br.) 12; N.L. (Channel Br.) 8; Sask. (Moose Jaw Br.) 6.

SINGLES: Ont. (Newbury Br.) 20; B.C./Yukon (Grandview Br.), N.B. (Blacks Harbour Br.) 19; Alta.-N.W.T. (Jubilee Br.) 18; N.S./Nunavut (Westville Br.) 17; N.L. (Channel Br.) 13; Man.-N.W.O. (Flin Flon Br.) 9; Sask. (Moose Jaw Br.), Que. (Terrebonne Heights Br.) 7; P.E.I. (Miscouche Br.) 6.

Membership initiatives become a priority

egion members will receive a new plastic membership card after paying their 2018 dues, Dominion Executive Council (DEC) learned at its April 29-30 meeting at Legion House in Kanata, Ont.

The new red card, featuring an image of the National War Memorial, will be reusable, with stickers added to indicate paid membership each year.

It is all part of a strategy to knock down the barriers to recruiting and renewing members. DEC agreed to streamline the recruitment process by having the initiation process become part of the application form to join The Royal Canadian Legion. This would be within the General By-laws with the branch retaining the power to hold a ceremonial initiation at a later date.

“This revised member application would leave further initiation processes at the discretion of the local branch,” said Membership Chair Tom Irvine in his report. In addition, DEC agreed to task the Ritual and Awards Committee with a more streamlined branch initiation for those branches that still want a ceremony.

“The Membership Committee is about to embark on an extensive change management exercise which will primarily occur over the next two years. These efforts focus on many elements, including membership administrative initiatives such as a new processing web portal, new membership cards and the creation of new member renewal payment options combined with simpler membership enrollments and a branch hospitality program,” said Irvine. “These endeavours will require strong command, branch and member support, if we are to maximize our organizational member renewal and retention efforts, all with a focus and goal of stabilizing Legion membership for future years.”

Dominion Treasurer Mark Barham reported that 2016 had finished well for Dominion Command with a surplus of $465,871. This was in part due to a banner year in supply sales and a membership decline less than expected.

Veterans, Services and Seniors Committee Chair Dave Flannigan reported that the Dominion Command Service Bureau continued to experience a significant increase in the number of first applications, handling 374 cases in 2016, up from 310 in 2015 and 273 in 2014. Requests for benevolent fund assistance decreased slightly to 430 in 2016, from 439 in 2015.

L

On the advocacy front, Flannigan said the committee met the day after the federal budget was released. “Budget 2017 did not deliver on many of the [Veterans Affairs] minister’s top priorities,” said Flannigan, “It checked off a couple more but did not address the lifetime financial security for ill and injured veterans. We will continue to press the government to ensure that all of the top priorities come to fruition for our veterans and their families.”

Flannigan reported that a final draft has been prepared for standards for service dogs to help veterans suffering from operational stress injuries and other medical problems.

Poppy and Remembrance Committee Chair André Paquette said that last year’s virtual poppy drop, projected on the Centre Block on Parliament Hill, was very popular. DEC voted to support the virtual drop again during the remembrance period in 2017.

A few changes to the poppy manual were passed, including adding a section that says residual

Liam Jackson MEMBER SINCE | MEMBRE DEPUIS 1996

Command | Direction

XX

Branch | Filiale

XXX

Member No. | No de member

XXXXXXXX

New Brunswick Command President Harold Harper (left) accepts a Certificate of Appreciation from Dominion President Dave Flannigan. opposite: DEC members listen to reports.

poppies and wreathes are to be retained by the branch for future campaigns. Another change set a maximum of $15 per unit for gifts donated to deployed troops and RCMP members for Operation Santa Claus and Canada Day.

Sports Committee Chair

Angus Stanfield reported that the Legion’s National Track and Field Championships will be held in Brandon, Man., in 2017 and 2018 and in Sydney, N.S., in 2019 and 2020. Eight ball has also returned to the member sports program and this year will be hosted by Sturgeon Falls, Ont., Branch.

Ritual and Awards Committee Chair Ron Goebel said that DEC had voted to authorize the wearing of a Vimy 1917 commemorative pin. It can be worn on the right lapel along with the We Support Our Troops lapel pin from April 1 to Dec. 30, 2017.

Goebel also noted that the committee was active in making applications for the new Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers. Government House has informed the committee that it is currently dealing with a large volume of applications and processing them will take some time.

The Constitution and Laws Committee was asked to clarify the eligibility of males to join the ladies’ auxiliary. There are approximately 350 males in the L.A. even though provincial commands have not enacted a provision for male eligibility. The practice has been permitted on the grounds of antidiscrimination legislation. However, the committee concluded— based on the General By-laws and a human rights case in British Columbia involving males who were not allowed to join an all-women’s gym— that males are not eligible for membership in the L.A.

Glynne Hines, president of the Operational Stress Injury Special Section, reported that the section had less than 200 members but an executive has been put together since the section was approved at dominion convention last year and most provincial representatives have been appointed.

In provincial command reports, British Columbia/Yukon Command President Marc Tremblay said the command was unable to get the provincial government to accept the Legion’s definition of a veteran in determining who is eligible for a veteran’s licence plate. Approval of plates is handled by the British Columbia Veterans Commemorative Association. As a result, the command now has no say in the issuing of veterans’ licence plates.

Alberta-Northwest Territories Command President Chris Strong said that the Legion had dispersed all the money raised in the Fort McMurray Relief Fund. The money was spent resettling residents. It was also used to purchase books for a school which had lost its library.

Ontario Command President Brian Weaver said the command’s homeless veterans program continues to grow, with more homeless and near homeless veterans being identified every day. “To date we have assisted 486 homeless [veterans and] permanently housed 271 in 111 different communities. More than $1.5 million has been spent on the program.”

Following New Brunswick Command President Harold Harper’s report, Dominion President Dave Flannigan presented him with a Certificate of Appreciation for how he handled the bad publicity when a branch in the province refused to let an Afghanistan veteran place a wreath on Remembrance Day. His action defused an embarrassing situation and earned the Legion praise from the offended veteran. L

ALSO HEARD AT DEC

The following news was also presented at the April 29-30 meeting of Dominion Executive Council. • The Canada Revenue Agency turned down the Legion’s initial request to establish a national charitable foundation. DEC voted to continue the process. • A new branch charter was granted in 2016 to Lt.-Col. André Bouchard Branch in Alma, Que. • 13 branches surrendered their charters in 2016: four in Alberta-N.W.T.; three in Quebec; two in ManitobaNorthwestern Ontario and one each in B.C./Yukon, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia/Nunavut. • The Tuberculous Veterans Section of the Legion is commemorating the 100th anniversary of its founding as the Tuberculous Veterans Association in 1917. • With the use of medicinal marijuana becoming more prevalent in the veteran community, Dominion Command was asked for a policy concerning its use around Legion branches. Branches should respect local bylaws just as they do for tobacco products. L

Disability award improvements come into effect

hanges to benefits under the New Veterans Charter (NVC) will put more money into the pockets of tens of thousands of wounded, ill and injured veterans and their families or survivors.

As of April 1, the ceiling on tax-free disability awards for service-related wounds, illness and injury was raised to $360,000 from $314,723, an increase of about 14 per cent.

The amount of the award, popularly known as the lump-sum payment, is determined by the severity of the condition and how much is attributed to military service, expressed as a percentage. Veterans can choose to be paid in a lump sum, in annual payments, or a combination of the two.

Disability awards will be topped up to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index retroactive to 2006, when the NVC came into effect. “Every veteran with a disability award will receive an additional lump-sum payment,” Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr said. VAC expects $700 million will be distributed among 67,000 Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans.

The increase brings the award more in line with private and public insurance plans, non-pecuniary damages awarded by courts and workers’ compensation boards. “We have been advocating…for quite some time to have the disability award increased to be commensurate with what the civilian court awards for pain and suffering,” said Dominion President Dave Flannigan of The Royal Canadian Legion.

The Legion is also pleased that awards for veterans assessed at one to four per cent will be calculated on the disability award rate, rather than rates under the Pension Act, as had been the case since 2006.

As well, the Permanent Impairment Allowance, a benefit to

Chelp compensate for lost job prospects and career opportunities, has been replaced by the Career Impact Allowance, a taxable monthly benefit paid for life. The new allowance considers diminished earning capacity and provides a taxable supplement for veterans unable to earn at least two thirds of pre-release salary due to a service-related health problem. “This change increases access to higher…grade levels for some veterans,” said Flannigan. Veterans and their advocates have argued that some of the most severely disabled veterans were not receiving the highest permanent impairment allowances. A new individual assessment, which will consider years left to serve at time of release and degree of lost earning capacity, is expected to give more veterans access to the highest allowances. By 2020, an estimated 2,700 veterans will be eligible for the increased benefit. L

By Sharon Adams

OBITUARY

Fred Mombourquette 1926-2016

Former Nova Scotia Command president Fred Mombourquette died Dec. 3 in the Aberdeen Hospital in New Glasgow, N.S. He was 90. Born in Sydney, Mombourquette enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1944. Following his service, Mombourquette worked for the Canadian National Railway for 20 years, before beginning a career as a Co-Operative Insurance agent in Pictou County.

Mombourquette joined New Glasgow Branch in 1951, where he served as president. He rose through the ranks of Nova Scotia Command, becoming president in 2001. During his term, the command officially amalgamated with Nunavut to create Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command. He also served as grand president of the command.

Mombourquette served on the Dominion Executive Council for more than 10 years, and was active in Legion curling, reaching the dominion championships. He was active in veterans issues and was appointed to the Veterans Ombudsman Advisory Council in 2003.

He was involved in many local organizations, and received the Canada 125 Medal for his contributions to the community.

Mombourquette is survived by his wife Agnes, children Beverly, Ann Marie, Patricia, Bill, Joey, Fred and Wayne, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. L