JAMES MALONEY

Every year, from the last Friday of October to November 11, tens of millions of Canadians wear a poppy as a visual pledge to honour Canada’s Veterans and remember those who sacrificed for the freedoms we enjoy today.

This year is a special year for the poppy. 2021 marks its 100th year as Canada’s symbol of remembrance and gratitude to those who wore a uniform for Canada and it is the 90th anniversary of the first Remembrance Day in Canada.

Remembrance Day was first observed in 1919 throughout the British Commonwealth. It was originally called “Armistice Day” to commemorate armistice agreement that ended the First World War on Monday, November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.— on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

From 1921 to 1930, Armistice Day was held on the Monday of the week in which November 11 fell. In 1931, Alan Neill, Member of Parliament for Comox–Alberni, introduced a bill to observe Armistice Day only on November 11. Passed by the House of Commons, the bill also changed the name to “Remembrance Day”. The first Remembrance Day was observed on November 11, 1931, making this year another special anniversary.

Every year on November 11, Canadians pause in a moment of silence to honour and remember the men and women who have served, and continue to serve Canada during times of war, conflict and peace. We remember the more than 2,300,000 Canadians who have served throughout our nation’s history and the more than 118,000 who made the ultimate sacrifice. legion.ca and send them to me at james.maloney@parl.gc.ca too so I can honour them on my facebook page.

The Poppy Campaign itself is very much a local initiative, conducted by Legion Branches in our communities.

In the days leading up to November 11, poppies can be seen in every corner of Canada. This initiative would not be possible without the efforts of thousands of Legionnaires who volunteer to distribute the poppies.

It all started with Madame Anna Guérin, later christened “The Poppy Lady from France”, who was inspired by John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields”. It was her idea to adopt the distribution of the Poppy on Armistice Day as a way to raise money for Veterans’ needs and to remember those who had given their lives during the First World War.

In July of 1921 the Great War Veterans Association (which in 1925 would unify with other Veteran groups to form the Canadian Legion) adopted the poppy as the flower of Remembrance.

Since then, the Legion and its members have upheld this tradition of remembrance and every year, it is a small way to say thanks to veterans. Lest we forget.

JAMES MALONEY

Member of Parliament Etobicoke-Lakeshore james.maloney@parl.gc.ca

Who do you Remember? You can submit your photo and words in our Gallery of Remembrance in honour of the Veterans in your life at www.

If you believe that the Covid pandemic has definitively changed the global paradigm workplace, you are right. But it pales in comparison to that of the juxtapositional impact of the Great World War (1939-45).

When Great Britain’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared war on Germany, the Commonwealth dominions including Canada were sent into a tailspin of social, economical and political turmoil to the Nth degree.

The preset of struggling through the depression years was all too familiar, so when the Canadian government announced recruitment opportunities in the war industries, military, airforce, and navy. Both men and women eagerly signed up. Ironically, it was a welcomed financial relief for the thousands of depression-weighted families.

After all, enlisting was accompanied with 3 square meals, skill training, clothing, camaraderie, and a pay cheque all under the canopy of ‘serving your country’.

Supporting the oversea war efforts meant, too, that thousands of NEW and sudden job vacancies needed to be filled immediately. Not since the First World War had there been such a monumental opportunity, especially for ladies, to switch ‘aprons for ammunition’.

Besides factory assemblers, the need for women to vocation, innovate and manage in the agriculture, industry, communications, and business sectors was aggressively campaigned by the Canadian government. It was also an incredible time for women to be empowered in the workforce and to prove unequivocally that they could do the jobs as their male counterparts.

For Canadian women, it opened the floodgates (decades past due) of job equality, status and respect in the workforce.

Even though equal pay for equal work was still a long-term goal, landing a job as an aircraft assembler put at least 85 cents in their pockets per hour and many would work double shifts to garner up some extra savings. Added incentives were initiated to build temporary housing with amenities to attract single women or married women without children and husbands in the armed forces, to come to urban centres and work on the war implement production lines. At the Arsenal Lands, multiple housing units with games and social rooms were built on the NW corner of Lakeshore Road and Dixie Road for the women ordnance workers (W.O.W.).

Here in the Toronto region, new factories were built to assemble the CANSO U-Boat Bomber (flown by local WWII hero’s David Hornell and Sydney Cole honoured by the Long Branch Park) aircraft, bombs (The Bomb Girls TV Series based on the Scarborough plant’s location), the small arms plants of Long Branch( Lakeview) and the repurposed Inglis Sten Guns Plant.

At the height of ordnance production, approximately 62% or workers were women and over one quarter were aged 40 or older. The Long Branch Arsenal Plant alone had hired over 14,000 during its entire operation!

Inadvertently and as a bonus spin-off , the W.O.W.’s of Canada along with their American counterparts had propelled and propagated a much needed public moral campaign of “We’ve got your back, to get you back”. The poster gals ‘The Sten Gun Girl’ (our Veronica Foster) and ‘Rosie the Riveter’ in the United States became one of the most iconic images for War Victory all in tandem with the women’s empowerment movement.

Even today the red and white headscarf is a universal emblem of Women’s Freedom, Victory, Rights and Empowerment.

BILL ZUFELT

Long Branch Resident and Chair of the History and Culture Committee Long Branch Neighbourhood Association bill.zufelt@lbna.ca

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Dayna and Richard (Co-Founders of Reverse Karma) started this business just over 3 years ago from their kitchen table. The couple are both residents of South Etobicoke and love supporting other small businesses in the area. They love grabbing a bite to eat from the many restaurants this neighbourhood has to offer!

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Place your Holiday message of hope. In Support of Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke HAPPY HOLIDAY TRUCK

"Merry Christmas, Long Banch! We Love You!!!

- The Davidsons

Call (416) 788-0716