Honourable chairman and members of the committee, good morning and thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee today to speak on Bill C-597. On behalf of our Dominion president, Comrade Tom Eagles, and our 300,000 members, it's a pleasure to be here.
I am Brad White, the Dominion secretary of the Royal Canadian Legion. For the last 17 years I have been involved in every major commemorative activity the Legion has participated in, as well as being the director of the national Remembrance Day ceremony.
Accompanying me today is Mr. William Maxwell. Bill is our senior program officer. He's also the secretary of the Dominion Command poppy and remembrance committee, and very much involved in all of our commemorative activities.
It is the Legion's position that November 11 not be a legal or statutory holiday. Therefore, I will be speaking against the proposed amendments in Bill C-597.
As background information, such positions, and other matters of Legion policy result from resolutions passed at a Dominion Convention following consultation and debate at all three levels of the organization. The procedure for enacting change in the Legion starts at the branch level, where any member can propose a change in policy or administrative procedure that could affect the entire organization.
Following a review and discussion by all members within the branch, the resolution passes to the provincial command level. It is at the provincial command convention that delegates from within that provincial jurisdiction further consider and discuss the proposed resolution.
If the delegates concur, the resolution is submitted to our Dominion Convention for consideration at the national level. This is the third and final level of consultation and debate within the organization. If passed by the Dominion Convention, which is attended by delegates from all of the branches in all provincial commands of the organization, the resolution becomes adopted policy and approved procedure.
As you can see, such matters receive very thorough consideration and undergo debate throughout all levels of our organization.
The holiday status of Remembrance Day has been debated at numerous Dominion Conventions throughout the Legion's history, in fact, 13 times since 1970, and most recently at our 2012 Dominion Convention. It was at the 2012 convention that the Legion's position against Remembrance Day being a statutory holiday was reaffirmed.
We remain concerned that if given the time off as a legal holiday Canadians may not take the time to remember, that it may simply become a mid-week break or just part of another long weekend. The latter situation relates specifically to the discussion at the 1978 Dominion Convention, which focused on how government departments of the day treated November 11 as a floating holiday for the purpose of giving their employees a long weekend. This must not be allowed to happen again.
We have heard an interpretation that making Remembrance Day a legal holiday would not designate it as a statutory holiday. The semantics of such interpretations are subjective. One need only look at the news media reporting on the progress of the bill to see it is a commonplace position that statutory holiday status is exactly what the bill would produce.
This perception is further validated by association, as the bill would serve to designate Remembrance Day as being the same as Canada Day and Victoria Day, both of which are legal holidays in the Holidays Act, with each also being a statutory holiday. If it is not the intent of the bill to make Remembrance Day a statutory holiday, if designating it a legal holiday would not change its current status according to the interpretation provided by the Library of Parliament report to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, why propose the bill in the first place?
Perhaps what is needed is to raise awareness and understanding of Remembrance Day, which could be achieved through education strategies. It is paramount that the significance of Remembrance Day be instilled in our youth and in the general population to show respect for the sacrifices of our fallen. To honour this day, many schools hold assemblies where they organize their own commemorations. Some teachers take their students to participate collectively with their peers in ceremonies at local cenotaphs, thereby strengthening the significance of November 11.
The Legion works very closely with schools throughout the country to provide an educational component to Remembrance Day. In addition to welcoming classes at ceremonies, the Legion’s teaching guide is an excellent educational tool, which has been viewed or downloaded from our website more than a million times.
In a letter last fall to Mr. Dan Harris, the Ontario Federation of Home and School Associations expressed strong support for the Legion's position on Remembrance Day.
The association noted that:
In the 1960's, Ontarians did observe Remembrance Day as a school holiday. Children remained at home to play, watch television and enjoy a day of rest.... At that time, veterans' groups, school boards and other organizations such as the OFHSA petitioned to have schools remain open on Remembrance Day.... “...so that suitable Remembrance Day services can be held in schools to provide students with a better understanding of the purpose and tribute paid.”
So too are we encouraged to hear of organized commemorations in workplaces on November 11. We need to make honouring and remembering an important part of our regular routine on that specific day and not simply provide a day off from work or school. Take Victoria Day, for example, a legal holiday, and question what observances are held across the country to honour Canada's longest-serving monarch. For most it just provides a long weekend in May. We must not let Remembrance Day suffer that very same fate.
We thank you again for giving the Legion this opportunity to express its views on Bill C-597.
