We, as members of the the Royal Canadian Legion, strive to keep the memory alive of the 117,000 Canadian men and women who paid the supreme sacrifice in the service of Canada during war and on subsequent operation since Korea. This goal is achieved through our annual poppy campaign and the remembrance day services organized by this great organzation throughout the country and by our fellow citizens who are working far from our shores.
The poppy campaign is the foundation of our remembrance program. We provide Canadians with the opportunity to remember by providing them with a poppy and to participate at remembrance day services. But our rememberance activity goes far beyond the two weeks leading up to November 11th each year. Canadians are generous when they see our poppy volunteers on the street and the collection trays in the stores.
As a result of this generosity, we are able to ensure that Veterans and their dependants are cared for and treated with the respect that they deserve. The willingness to participate in the poppy campaign was one of the obligations we undertook when we became members of the Royal Canadian Legion. All of us must strive to never forget this solemn undertaking - it is part of the debt that we owe to those who who have gone before.
It is through the poppy campaign and the generosity of our fellow citizens that, in addition to providing assistance to Veterans and their dependants, we foster the tradition of the remembrance amongst our youth, the leaders of tomorrow.
Our movtivation is simple and John McCrae's famous lines can never be repeated often enough: "To you from failing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders Fields." These words are our motivation and strength.