Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak on Motion No. 310.
My fellow colleague's attack against the Royal Canadian Legion, an independent association of veterans who risked their lives to fight racism and oppression, is in my opinion unfounded.
The Royal Canadian Legion is not an organization permeated with bigots and racists-far from it. The legion is an organization of war veterans with their own valued customs and traditions to show respect for their fallen comrades.
Their methods of showing respect are their own and should not be subject to parliamentary inquiry. I feel strongly that my colleague has misinterpreted the whole issue.
During the 35th dominion convention of the Royal Canadian Legion which was held in Calgary from May 29 to June 2, 1994 the legion passed a resolution:
Branch bylaws or house rules shall include a provision for the wearing of head-dress in the premises and when doing so must provide that religious head-dress is not considered to constitute head-dress in the traditional sense.
Therefore, once a person who is required to wear head-dress by his faith has been accepted as a Legion member, or invited as a guest to a Legion branch, he is authorized admission to all areas of that branch that are normally open to the general membership or invited guests.
This bylaw clearly states that once a branch allows an individual in as a member or as a guest that individual will have access to all areas of the branch regardless of religious head-dress. This is a sensible policy.
However, individual branches can comply with this bylaw as they see fit due to their grassroots independence from the dominion command. Individual legion branches have the right to accept or refuse all new members, period, regardless of head-dress. Therefore, the legion has taken effective action to ensure that all Canadians have access to their facilities.
President of the Royal Canadian Legion, Mr. Hugh Greene, stated after the convention: "It is wrong to say that the convention banned turbans. The delegates did not vote to ban religious head-dress from branches. The vote was to rescind a national general bylaw that imposed a dress regulation on branches. This decision took the responsibility for branch head-dress rules back into the hands of the branches".
I find it hard to comprehend why my colleague wants this decision reversed. As she states in her motion:
-urge the Royal Canadian Legion and its constituent branches to reconsider their recent decision.
Is the return to a national general bylaw imposing a dress regulation in the best interest of all Canadians? I do not think so. I think it is important for Parliament to respect the right of organizations such as the legion to make and maintain their own bylaws. Nobody in Parliament would question the bylaws of the Kiwanis Club or the Optimist Club. Besides, the Royal Canadian Legion has been very generous in its interpretation of its customs. The vast majority of legion branches are following the resolutions passed by the conventions.
If the members across the way would listen for a minute, the statement made was that the vast majority of legion branches are following the resolution passed by the convention.
John Spellman, professor of Asian studies at the University of Windsor, documented that in the past 67 years and out of a membership of nearly 700,000 there have been fewer than six cases in all in Canada involving turbaned Sikhs not being admitted to Legion halls. No person of Jewish descent has ever been turned away. The Human Rights Commission has only ever decided against a legion branch once. Many veterans who require head-dress for religious reasons have been legion members for years.
My colleague's motion has called into question the integrity of the Royal Canadian Legion and I feel strongly that I must set the record straight. I would like to take this opportunity to tell the House what kind of organization the Royal Canadian Legion is.
We all know the legion was formed after the great war to help veterans secure adequate pensions and other well earned benefits for them and their families. Today's Royal Canadian Legion has many other stated purposes and objectives which include bringing about the unity of all who have served their country, furthering the spirit of camaraderie, striving for peace, goodwill and friendship among all nations, co-operating with the commonwealth and allied associations with similar aims and encouraging, promoting and engaging in or supporting all forms of national, provincial, municipal and community service or any other charitable purpose.
Today's Royal Canadian Legion benefits everyone in this room and all Canadians.
Its programs have had a very positive impact throughout the communities that are blessed with a legion branch. In 1993 the Royal Canadian Legion's 1,720 branches contributed $63 million and over 2 million volunteer person hours to their communities.
The Royal Canadian Legion, through its service bureau which acts as an advocate for thousands of veterans and their families, provided assistance to those veterans.
In 1993 the Royal Canadian Legion provided $6.8 million in direct support and over half a million hours of volunteer time assisting 67,000 veterans.
The legion is also active in supporting commonwealth veterans internationally. As a member of the British Commonwealth ex-service league, the Royal Canadian Legion has welcomed the responsibility for assisting Caribbean veterans through 15 Caribbean ex-service organizations in countries such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana.
The legion has also assisted peacekeepers who have been injured during peacekeeping activities. We are all familiar with the Royal Canadian Legion's remembrance and poppy campaign. It raised nearly $5.2 million in 1993 which is used to assist needy veterans and their families. It was also used to purchase medical supplies and funds, medical research and training.
In 1992 the legion's senior program provided seniors with $3.9 million in direct support and contributed 400,000 hours of volunteer time assisting 57,000 seniors. It also provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to help train practitioners in gerontology and geriatric medicine.
In addition, the legion sponsors Meals on Wheels and provides transportation for seniors and disabled Canadians. It helps them reach day hospitals, recreational activities and medical appointments.
The Royal Canadian Legion is one of the country's leading community organizations. It contributes tens of millions of dollars to private charities annually.
In 1992, $10 million was earmarked for direct support of youth activities such as the finest youth organization in the world, the Royal Canadian Air, Sea and Army Cadets across the country. Also, much needed money went to Scouts Canada. It provides the children and grandchildren of veterans with educational bursaries and scholarships.
I would like to take a moment to offer all my colleagues in the House an opportunity to pay tribute to the good deeds of the Royal Canadian Legion. I can only pray that the Royal Canadian Legion remains an independent, grassroots, democratic organization, for without the input of the grassroots, the legion would not be the progressive community organization it is today.
It has assisted more Canadians than any other non-government organization I know of.