Mr. Speaker, I present a petition that notes that the Kitchener-Waterloo Poppy Fund administers the poppy campaign every year to fund initiatives for veterans. That includes emergency assistance, comfort for those who are hospitalized, bursaries and more. The petitioners note that the federal government already provides mailing services, such as letters to Santa, for free, but they note that the KW Poppy Fund spends $23,000 in mailing costs every year to distribute poppies. They note that its capacity to support veterans is lessened by that because, before they can provide a single dollar to a veteran, it needs to pay those mailing costs.
The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to do three very reasonable things: first, determine how much it might cost for the federal government to cover the cost of mailing poppies; second, consult with Canada Post and Royal Canadian Legion to do a cost-benefit analysis of waiving mailing fees for poppy sales; and last, take into consideration how chapters of the Royal Canadian Legion support veterans and their dependents through discussion of this possibility.