{"id":3926,"date":"2022-02-09T23:24:31","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T04:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/?page_id=3926"},"modified":"2022-02-09T23:32:35","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T04:32:35","slug":"new-hamburg-remembrance-ceremony-2021","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/?page_id=3926","title":{"rendered":"New Hamburg Remembrance Ceremony – 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 11th<\/sup> is recognized around the world as a day when citizens give thanks and show their appreciation for the service and sacrifice of veterans of all<\/em><\/strong> backgrounds, without any focus on one specific sub-group.<\/p>\n

A cenotaph monument inscribed with the names of some of the local veterans is placed in many municipalities. The Royal Canadian Legion has the responsibility for planning and coordinating each annual event as they are the \u201cKeepers of the Flame\u201d. They keep the flame of remembrance alive and burning in our minds.<\/p>\n

The Remembrance ceremony in New Hamburg was coordinated by Legion Branch 532. Its program, as planned they thought<\/em>, was in compliance with national Legion protocols.<\/p>\n

However, one Legion member, who is also a Councillor with a personal agenda, asked that an Indigenous veteran who lived outside the Township be invited to participate in the New Hamburg ceremony. The local Legion indicated that the Indigenous veteran was welcome to place a wreath at the cenotaph, in sequence, with all others<\/span> placing wreaths<\/strong>, but that no other ceremonial actions including a drum beating were to occur during the ceremony. The veteran could conduct his drum ceremony at the site AFTER the Legion ceremony was completed. This would provide an opportunity for this particular issue to be presented to the public \u2013 appropriately, and in a context of ALL veterans being equal<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Branch 532, like this writer, appeared to be duly respectful of the service of this individual Indigenous veteran and his fellows and was willing to provide an appropriate opportunity for his recognition<\/span><\/strong>. The Legion acted appropriately! Not so this Councillor.<\/p>\n

The Councillor did not accept that response. My research (3 sources with first-hand knowledge of the events) indicates that she and two other councillors wanted a drum ceremony DURING the formal Legion ceremony.<\/p>\n

Therefore, it appears the councillor went to the Dominion Legion in Ottawa to get permission to change the protocols. Dominion Legion told her the same thing as Branch 532 \u2013 an Indigenous veteran can lay a wreath during the ceremony, and any other “ceremony” would be at the discretion of the local Legion after the formal Legion ceremony was completed.<\/p>\n

The Councillor was not satisfied with that consistent answer and went to the office of the Governor-General. She was told to comply with Legion protocols.<\/p>\n

The Councillor was not satisfied with that answer and reportedly approached government Ministries who told her that the Legion was not subject to government direction and that she had to comply with Legion protocols.<\/p>\n

The Councillor then took it upon herself to unilaterally invite<\/em> the Indigenous veteran to not just participate in a wreath-laying as provided for by the Legion, but also \u201cpermitted\u201d him to interrupt with a drum ceremony, a surprise to the Legion, in the midst of the formal ceremony for ALL veterans.<\/p>\n

The Legion provided an appropriate opportunity for Indigenous recognition on November 11th. In my opinion, this worthy man, a veteran with 7 years\u2019 service to our country, has been deceived and used by her to serve myopic needs. (Got to love those interviews with CBC and national press reports.) The Royal Canadian Legion has been manipulated and deceived by the unilateral imposition of her willfulness.<\/p>\n

The public and a paper editor have been deceived, by omission, by a reporter who indicated that this individual veteran was \u201cinvited\u201d to participate, but omitted the fact that he was invited only to lay a wreath by the Legion, but didn\u2019t specify that it was only the Councillor who unilaterally invited him to interrupt the formal Legion program with a drum ceremony.<\/p>\n

It would be no surprise if the local Legion reviewed her suitability for membership as a Legion member as she appears unable to understand or accept the Legion protocols for appropriate public conduct. However, I would understand that the Legion would not want to bring embarrassment upon itself with a potential further public washing of this dirty laundry. The Legion is a fine service organization and does not deserve any criticism for its \u2018best intentions\u2019 that were manipulated and abused by one person.<\/p>\n

A Councillor’s apparent inability to understand the clear messages delivered to her by the local Legion, the Dominion Legion, the Governor\u2013General\u2019s office, and government Ministries indicates to me that she is also unsuitable for service as a councillor in Wilmot Township.<\/p>\n

A veteran who happens to be of Native ancestry with the best of intentions has been duped by a myopic ‘trickster’. Any reconciliation of perceptions and attitudes towards ‘others’ is not advanced by deception and manipulation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 11th is recognized around the world as a day when citizens give thanks and show their appreciation for the service and sacrifice of veterans of all backgrounds, without any focus on one specific sub-group. A cenotaph monument inscribed with the names of some of the local veterans is placed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3923,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3926","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3926"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3927,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3926\/revisions\/3927"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}