The attention on the Canadian military following recent tragedies could result in more poppy fund donations in 2014, according to the Royal Canadian Legion. [Photo©Spencer Perry]

By Spencer Perry

OTTAWA — As the service officer at the Royal Canadian Legion in Orleans, Ont., Frank Stacey sees firsthand how much today’s veterans rely on the poppy fund.

Stacey, a volunteer, is responsible for doling out money collected during the Orleans legion’s poppy campaign. He also assists members with their veterans affairs claims. He is one of many service officers across Canada.

“Two weeks ago I had a woman that said she had to have a special cushion because of nursing sores. She started to cry because she couldn’t afford the cushion. This cushion is $500. When I was called in, I checked things over and said, ‘I think Christmas is going to come a little early for you.’ Her cushion will be ready next week.” — Frank Stacey

Stories like this happen because of the money donated on street corners and in stores every November. The Royal Canadian Legion doesn’t sell poppies; it asks people to make a donation after pinning one to their lapels.

Money raised can only be used to assist military and RCMP veterans, plus their immediate families, with medical costs, bills, and basic comforts. Legions have to raise their own operating funds through donations. In the case of Orleans, most of its money comes from deceased members’ estates and private donations.

In 2013, the Royal Canadian Legion poppy fund gave out more than $14.5 million to veterans across Canada. Staff at legion headquarters said they expect a boost in poppy donations over the course of the 2014 campaign following the deadly attacks in Ottawa and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. There are about 18 million poppies manufactured each year for the legion’s 1,400 branches to distribute.

The Orleans legion took in around $104,000 in its 2013 poppy drive. This year, the Ottawa-area branch received a total of $111,000.

The Royal Canadian Legion will not release the national total of 2014 poppy fund until fall 2015. Each branch submits a statement to national headquarters with an account of the money received and spent following the donation campaign, and then legion determines the grand total.

Legion service officers like Stacey spend a lot of time helping people fill out benefits claim forms to submit to Veterans Affairs. Although the government is responsible for the care of former members of the military, it’s not necessarily easy for veterans to get assistance, especially if they handle their own case.

These challenges were a part of the auditor general’s recent report on veterans’ services released Nov. 25. Evidence suggests some veterans wait up to 32 weeks to find out if their applications for benefits will be considered. Reports of veterans waiting long periods of time for case managers to help them with benefits claims are also in the report, although Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino’s office denies these statements.

“Veterans Affairs don’t tell you what you’re entitled to. In fact it seems to be that the first time you apply, you’re rejected. We recommend to everyone that they go through the legion, then we’re the advocate for them,” Stacey said.

Legion funding in Canada

With all the work legions do to help veterans, there is little left to help themselves.

Poppy fund money cannot be used for renovations or upgrades, so the national headquarters has encouraged legions to merge. These mergers also remedy declining membership numbers in some parts of the country.

“I have a branch in Edmonton where the City helped them build a new branch in the northeast side of town. The branch has gone from a membership of a couple hundred to a couple thousand because they are where the community is,” said Brad White, dominion secretary at the Royal Canadian Legion.

The push to amalgamate legions is happening without help from public coffers, because the legion receives no government funding. This is because the organization has an arms-length relationship with the federal government as a result of the Act of Parliament that created the organization in 1926. This separation ensures the poppy remains a trademark of the legion and that the symbol is only used for remembrance.

There have been a few instances where the federal government has supported branches with funding for renovations. In 2012, a legion near Winnipeg received $59,000 from the government’s community infrastructure improvement fund to repair its roof and heating system.

“If some of the poppy fund resources could go to the legion itself, I’d be very much in favour of that as both a parliamentarian and a legion member,” said Erin O’Toole, a Conservative MP who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

“If a legion in a small town collapses because they’ve got a small membership and their furnace breaks down and they don’t have money to replace it, there goes the eyes and ears of Veterans Affairs Canada,” O’Toole said.

The government and veterans’ charities

As legions continue to find ways to support themselves, the current government encourages Canadians to give to veterans’ charities.

The problem with elected officials asking people to support these charities is that the government is supposed to take care of veterans once they leave the military, said Peter Stoffer, the NDP’s veterans affairs critic.

It’s wonderful that charities exist to help veterans, but Stoffer said people have to understand that many of organizations exist because the government doesn’t fund veterans programs at appropriate levels.

“You already pay taxes to the government through the Department of Veterans Affairs. If you take $20 to help a veteran, you don’t have $20 to help a food bank. That money’s gone. These wonderful people have set up all these organizations to help veterans when it should be a government responsibility.” — Peter Stoffer, NDP veterans affairs critic

What’s next

On Nov. 23, the government announced a plan to spend $200 million on mental health clinics for veterans. Opposition parties cast the plan as a public relations move to distract from the fact the current veterans ministry has returned $1.1 billion in unused funds to the treasury since the Tories took office. The Veterans Affairs annual budget rose to $3.4 billion in 2013 from $2.8 billion a year in 2006.

In the meantime, the legion works to fill the gap between what veterans need and what the government provides. Poppy donations may not help legions like the one in Orleans pay its bills, but the money supports veterans in ways that would otherwise be impossible.

“Sometimes it’s extremely hard. You’ve got a request to go into a nursing home to meet a widow of a war veteran. You meet with them and find out what the need is. You say, ‘Okay, we’ll take care of that,’” Stacey said.

“And they start crying and saying that they didn’t know that anybody cared.”