 From left: Veterans Dave Coxworthy, Alf Beese, and Mike Priaulx are upset that a Scarborough area Scotiabank won't allow them to sell poppies. (Sun Media/Ernest Doroszuk)
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TORONTO -- Poppycock, I say.
Our war vets fought for our rights and freedoms. Their friends died.
But did they fight for the right to corporate stupidity?
I'm tired of veterans and their little boxes of poppies being barred, bounced, or generally abused.
Someone needs to say: Poppy sales are sacrosanct. They're a right as surely as religion, free speech and allegiance to the Leafs.
Don't mess with our vets.
The latest skirmish comes from south Scarborough, where Royal Canadian Legion Branch 13 sells 25,000 poppies in the 10 days leading up to Remembrance Day.
Its 200 members fan out from the branch at Kingston Rd. and Warden to man malls and place boxes in schools, liquor stores, coffee shops, banks and other businesses.
Usually, a poppy committee member drops by first to tee it up.
No one can remember a refusal. Until now.
A rep popped by the Scotiabank at Cedarbrae Mall as usual but this time he was told there was no place for his poppy box.
What do you think about businesses declining poppies?
No reason. Two managers huddled, one shrugged and said no. The vet left, perplexed.
Well, old soldiers may die, but they never fade away. The snub became the talk of Branch 13.
My first call is from Al Dawson, 47. He's not a vet, but he works for Toronto Hydro and volunteers at the Legion. When the flagpole chain breaks, he swings by in a bucket truck. Or he trims the trees and hangs lights.
And he's ticked off about the poppies.
"There's a war going on and our troops are dying in Afghanistan -- and someone won't let these guys sell poppies? I was floored."
Again.
Affronts to poppies are becoming as much a part of Remembrance Day as cenotaphs and the Last Post.
Last year, security guards punted Alan Lawrence, 85, and his poppy box from the Bay tower at Yonge and Bloor. This even though Lawrence fought the Nazis and nearly died when they sank his ship.
"You've got to be joking," he told the guards.
In Montreal, a CIBC branch banned poppy sales until the outrage forced a retreat.
A spokesman said: "We took another look and we heard from our customers and we recognized we have many employees and former employees who are veterans or have veterans as members of the family."
That's bank-ese for: "Oh, brother, we wish we hadn't messed with the vets."
"Oh, brother" is right.
"We would like all Canadians to wear poppies," says Bob Butt, former Black Watch and now Legion spokesman in Ottawa.
"I kind of feel sorry for anyone who would ban them."
Why does it keep happening?
"You're in Toronto, right?" he says, drily.
Yes. So what?
"Seriously, the bigger the city, the less awareness of poppies."
So I hustle up to Cedarbrae Mall, Markham Rd. and Lawrence, to find out what Branch 13 members think about the latest snub.
"This is how it starts, and that really gets me," says Mike Priaulx, 64, the sergeant-at-arms of No. 13.
"I've seen it at other branches in recent years. Stores not letting them in or boxes getting stolen.
"Veterans may be dwindling, but this money goes to help their families, too."
Not to mention a new generation of vets being bloodied in Afghanistan.
Mike joined the navy at 17 and chased Soviet subs around the Atlantic. He and wife Sandra, 59, have been selling poppies for 24 years.
Says Sandra: "The public should know that if it wasn't for these veterans selling poppies, they wouldn't have this country. I wish politicians would stand up for them."
Amen. We need a Poppy Bill of Rights, or something. For 10 days, the Legion can sell poppies wherever the hell it wants.
At least, corporations ought to send annual memos reminding staff that poppy sales are just peachy. So there's no misunderstanding.
I suspect that was part of the problem at the Cedarbrae bank. Some manager just wasn't thinking.
Whatever, there's a quick about-face.
I drop in after talking to the vets. The brass are out, but the woman at reception makes a call, then assures me the poppies will be welcome after all.
Just as they were welcomed after the faceoffs at the Bay tower and the Montreal CIBC.
Happy endings.
It's the silliness leading up to them that must stop. Hey, don't mess with our vets.
STROBEL'S COLUMN RUNS WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY, AND SUNDAY. MIKE.STROBEL@SUNMEDIA.CA OR 416-947-2265
