KITCHEN – A group of cadets handing out poppies at CF Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener were asked to leave the property on Saturday.
The cadets, who were part of the 1596 Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps, were told they were not allowed inside the mall to deliver poppies before Remembrance Day.
But Don Gingrich, Kitchener’s Royal Canadian Legion Fred Gies Branch 50 poppy campaign manager, said Saturday he has an email confirming the permit.
He said there must have been some kind of confusion with the mall management team, as the cadets have always handed out poppies at the mall.
Gingrich said they had never had problems at the site in the past.
“For whatever reason, they didn’t know that we had been doing this every year for as long as I can remember,” he said. “I even have a copy of the email sent authorizing us to be there.”
The mall’s management did not immediately respond to Record’s questions.
Darin Hoshoian was entering the mall entrance when the cadets were asked to leave on Saturday. He said the situation made him “disappointed, upset and angry.”
“The young people who volunteered Saturday to hold the poppy boxes were not soliciting people or obstructing the entrance at all,” he said.
“In fact, they were barely in the mall as they were standing between the doors trying to keep warm and out of the wetness from the rain.”
Over the years, there has been a time when volunteers have been told they couldn’t deliver poppies in certain places, Gingrich said, but it never happened in a place where they had already been authorized to be there.
Hoshoian said seeing the cadets being forced to leave has left a lasting impact on him.
“The poppy is a symbol of respect for the men and women who throughout Canadian history have sacrificed their lives, members and families so that we can enjoy the freedoms we so often take for granted,” he said.
“‘Show me your papers’ is exactly the kind of situation and statement our veterans fought to avoid.”
Permits for the locations are obtained through the KW Poppy Fund, a group of local Legion members responsible for sending volunteers and donation boxes throughout the city at participating locations.
Poppy Campaign 2021 started on Friday at 11 a.m. M., With the raising of the Poppy flag at the KW Poppy Fund office on Marsland Drive.
Poppies are given out for free, but donations are accepted before Remembrance Day on November 11.
Poppy funds are used to provide emergency assistance such as shelter, food, fuel, clothing, prescription medications, and necessary transportation for former service personnel and their families.
This is the second year that the poppy campaign has taken place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While protocols have been loosened in Ontario, Gingrich did not say whether precautions about the pandemic may have influenced the mall’s decision to ask the group to leave.
He said he will ask the KW Poppy Fund to contact the mall on Monday to find out what needs to be done to get back.
Robert Williams is a reporter for The Record in the Waterloo region. Contact him by email: [email protected]
Reference-www.thestar.com