Dear Dominion Command of the Royal Canadian Legion;
I am afraid of you guys. And I am especially afraid of your lawyers, “Ridout & Maybee”. There I said it point blank. I doubt that anyone else in Canada is willing to stand up to you and your bank of lawyers. That is very sad. You have a group of bullies working right under your noses and you didn’t know it.
On October 23 your letter arrived informing a local Ganaraska Credit Union to stop their fund raising effort on behalf of soldiers families. The quote from Pete Fisher from “Northumberland Today” stated in his report…
“On Oct. 23, the Ganaraska Credit Union, which has branches in Cobourg and Port Hope, was served a three-page letter by Ridout & Maybee law firm representing the Royal Canadian Legion on trademark matters.”
End quote...
What a ‘Crock’! You are telling and threatening that your group owns the patent of the use of a poppy! Let me tell you that you DO NOT! We as Canadians own it. Our families gave their whole life and entire sections of their existence for it. In fact it is a world wide symbol that cannot be owned by one group – especially like yours. We bought it with blood, sweat and tears.
You see our families had members come home that would never be the same again.
Granted… you, or some one, did a good job of selling the public on wearing the poppy to remember fallen soldiers. To bear the grief of soldiers that gave so much is important. The regular appearance of the poppy selling/collecting, local old soldiers has been a norm in my 65 years of living for a long, long time. I am a War Baby - 1944 – and that battle has never been absent from life – EVER!
In fact you did such a good job of selling the public, even me, that each year I “buy” a poppy whether I need it or not.
I have six grandkids. My desire was to teach them that Grandpa cared. I did this by a simple little method – I wore the poppy all year long. I wore it by keeping the poppies that I have “bought” from the local poppy “sellers” each year. I displayed them inside my vehicle, on the roof, above the rear view mirror. I felt strongly that one day(or week) was not enough. Personally I wanted to do more to let my grandkids know what it was all about.
Each of my grandsons would ask me, “Grandpa, why do you have so many Poppies in your van?” To which I explained the “why in my life” and why I never forget.
Today I made the final decision. I went out to my vehicle and took all 15 of the poppies off the ceiling. I have stored them in a plastic bag and will not show them again.
You and your group can threaten the honest intentions of local group because they displeased you. And it appears that has happened without any dialogue or warning. That is a real shame.
I for one don’t have to put up with that. I withdraw my support this year for the Legion – but not for the soldiers. I honor the role the poppy plays in helping me remember the fallen soldiers that never made it home… but I do not honor the Legion.
Will I wear another poppy? I will think long and hard about it before I do. From now on if I wear it – it reminds me of the Legion and its actions this year… which I do not want to remember.
There are many other symbols that help me remember – like the army helmets from different members of our family that were discarded after the men came home. I kept them to help me remember.
I support the local Ganaraska Credit Union in their intentions to help the soldiers families. I do not support your group. But then what does it matter – I am not apart of either one. I am an outsider that is turned off.
I would like to know how much “poppy money” it cost you to buy into the law firms three page letter? I just bet that they didn’t do it for nothing.
You see I have a poppy at the top of this Blog. No I didn’t get permission – I just used it. It is MY POPPY – not yours!
Finally…
All my life I have witnessed what Bullies have done in communities around the world. If anything has come out of my 65 years of living it is… I avoid bullies. I will do anything I can personally protect my family and neighbors from the actions of bullies. I vote because of bullies… to make sure that they will not get that opportunity again to take control of whole countries… which then cause wars.
I was born during that horrible war where one Great Big Bully threatened everyone that didn’t agree with him, didn’t bow to him and didn’t revere him. His name was Hitler and as you well know he was a Bully.
His counter part in Asia and South East were the inglorious Japanese ideology of their time. That group of Bullies maimed the whole of the eastern world with their Bully Tactics. I lived there and witnessed the deep and horrible affect of the Bullies.
Paul Hallas, CEO of Ganaraska Credit Union needs to be complimented for his(their) idea and the willingness to do something for the soldiers. I also admire his(their) willingness to back down from a Bully and not cause further damage in their community.
But I do wonder what would have happened if Your Bullies would have actually sued them? My guess is that you would have been super big losers – even more than now.
I truly think your organization needs to write an apology to Paul Hallas and the Ganaraska Credit Union says. And I would suggest that you don’t use the Law Firm again… especially to write the apology.
Maybe some one, some where will see what kind of people your executive committee is all about and avoid them with a wide space.
~ Murray Lincoln ~
www.murraylincoln.com/
Source:
http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2161947
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