The Great Veteran Pretender

The Royal Canadian Legion,  originally known as the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Services League  was incorporated  in 1926 and was an amalgamation of over a dozen  veterans advocacy groups  that were active after the World War I.

 According to the Legion’s website the goal of the original organization was to “provide a strong voice for veterans  and to advise the government” .  During the 1920s and into the Great Depression the Legion become an outspoken advocate for improved pensions and other benefits for veterans. 

In 1930 while the country was spiraling  into economic depression the federal government, responding in no small measure to the lobbying efforts of the Legion,   passed the War Veterans Allowance Act which granted pensions to war veterans over the age of sixty who were in need of financial  assistance.    

However few Canadian Forces veterans today chose to join the Royal Canadian Legion.  Demographically and culturally the Legion  is losing its connectivity to the military and veteran community.  

While there are  up to 800,000 Canadian Forces veterans in the general population today who could automatically qualify for Legion membership few have made the effort to take part in an organization that, until recently,  was slow in redefining and refocusing itself on the needs of the post Korean war generation of veterans. 

“Today’s Legion is a victim of its own arrogance from the 1970s and 80s.”  says former Master Corporal Ron Cundell,    a disabled  Canadian Forces veteran with several overseas tours to his credit. “They always used to look down their nose at us younger veterans-we did not count to them.  Now since the creation of the veteran ombudsman they want to be the spokesman for all veterans.”

With few modern veterans wanting to join,  today’s Legion is rapidly losing members. 

Desperate for new “recruits”   the Legion is opening up more fluid criteria  for membership to non-veterans  that would have been unthinkable  in the past.  In addition to former members of the armed forces of Canada, the United States and other allied countries ordinary Legion membership is also available to serving and former members of the coast guard,  and any national provincial or municipal police forces .

Further almost any person regardless of military or paramilitary association can join the Legion as an associate member. Today a majority of Legion membership, including  many of its administrative positions,  are   made up of people who never spent a day in any uniform. 

Almost anyone with a relative who could have traditionally qualified for Legion membership can today become a  Legion member themselves.  Otherwise, even without relatives who had served in the military, police or coast guard,   a person  can still apply as an affiliate voting member of the Legion.    Even people who are not citizens of Canada can apply as an affiliate non-voting member. 

All categories of Legion membership can wear the Legion uniform and are entitled to receive a series of special merit and service medals produced solely by the Legion which can often be mistaken by the untrained eye as authentic military medals. 

Still this fluid  criteria for membership has failed to fill the Legions dwindling ranks.  In its Report and Resolution from its 2008 Convention the Legion stated that nationally its efforts at acquiring new members “have fallen short on our renewal goals and (we)  are unable to recruit enough new members to make up for the losses.” 

Since 1993,  Legion membership has declined by over 35%  from  512,  281 in 1993 to 373,  367 in 2007.  In  2007  alone membership in the Legion declined by an average of 3.92 percent

And while,  at its inception,  the legion prided itself as an advocate for better compensation and treatment for First World War Veterans,  many of whom were still in their 20s and 30s,  todays Legion is  walking  hand in hand with the federal government as they  allowed for the elimination  many of the benefits (including disability pensions)  that their organization once fought for. 

“If our veterans organizations are going to be veterans organizations then they are going to have to change into being totally relevant to what is going on”  said former  Liberal veterans affairs critic Rob Oliphant  in a 2009 interview.

It is an opinion that is shared by  retired Captain Sean Bruyea  a veteran advocate and  a disabled  Gulf War veteran   who believes that the Legion is  far too willing to give the government and bureaucracy the benefit of the doubt when new legislation is introduced. 

“I think that the Legion especially with the New Veterans Charter and the blank cheque that they gave to the bureaucracy has severely damaged their credibility with the Canadian Forces Veteran”  he says.  “Also I think the legion Command structure is completely counterproductive for not allowing initiative and rapid change to be brought forth from their grassroots level."