‘More important than ever’: remembrance poppy campaign begins

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This article was published 26/10/2023 (946 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The poppy has been a symbol to commemorate Canada’s war dead for more than a century, but still remains tied to current world events.

Manitoba Lt. Gov. Anita Neville was the first to be presented with a remembrance poppy for this year’s Royal Canadian Legion fundraising campaign, during a ceremony Thursday at Government House.

Starting Friday, all Manitobans have a chance to give a financial donation and wear a poppy.

“It probably has more relevance today,” Neville said following the ceremony. “It means different things to different people, but it really is a symbol of remembrance. It reminds us of the sacrifice and lives lost but it also reminds us of why people died and the horrors of war.

“We are living in those times now.”

The poppies begin being distributed annually on the last Friday in October, at local legions and businesses, until Remembrance Day (Nov. 11).

The remembrance poppy was created after the First World War as a fundraiser to help rebuild areas of France by a woman who had been inspired by Canadian soldier John McCrae’s wartime poem In Flanders Fields.

The Great War Veterans Association, which later became the Royal Canadian Legion, began to distribute them as a national symbol of remembrance in 1921.

An estimated 19 million Canadians are expected to wear a remembrance poppy this year.

Amanda Manness, acting principal at Carpathia School, said her students will be given poppies as soon as the pins arrive.

Manness, who has worked in education for 21 years and has organized Remembrance Day ceremonies as a teacher, said the poppies are still relevant.

“I talk with our students about the wars in the past and students can relate to what is happening today in the world,” she said. “We recognize what people did for us in the past — to keep all of us safe. We might not see it ourselves, but we have benefited from their sacrifice.”

Ernie Tester, president of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario command, said 126 Legion branches from the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border to Thunder Bay will benefit from the poppy fundraiser.

“Poppies are more important than ever now, especially with (ongoing fighting between) Ukraine and Russia, and Israel and Gaza,” he said.

“(Canadian soldiers) gave up their lives so we could have all of the freedoms we have. They gave the ultimate sacrifice and we should think about that every day.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca