Brampton changes bylaw to allow residents, businesses to show support for veterans on Remembrance Day
Published October 19, 2021 at 3:21 pm
The City of Brampton has amended a bylaw that prohibited the display of law signs, including signs supporting veterans.
As part of the previous bylaw, residents and businesses were prohibited from displaying signs in support of Canadian veterans.
During a Planning and Development Committee meeting on Monday (October 19), Councillor Jeff Bowman proposed a motion, which passed unanimously, that would amend the bylaw to allow residents and businesses to display signs in support of veterans on their property, provided they abide by existing regulations, such as size dimensions and the length of time they can be displayed.
This year, the Royal Canadian Legion will be selling lawn signs Canadians can display the proceeds for which will go towards supporting Canadian veterans who have served their country.
The campaign is intended to coincide with the annual Poppy Campaign, which runs from October 29 until Remembrance Day on November 11.
“We need to say ‘thank you’ to our veterans, particularly this year,” Henry Verschuren, Parade Commander and Government and Community Liaison with the Royal Canadian Legion, said during the meeting.
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“They’re going through difficult times in terms of isolation because of COVID-19, and they’re also experiencing triggers to their PTSD with respect to the events in Afghanistan. We need to gather as a community and say ‘thank you’ to them. I think they really need it.”
According to Verschuren, the poppy has a specific significance to Brampton, as it was adopted as the symbol for World War I (WWI) under the jurisdiction of Brampton’s Major William Dwight Sharpe.
“There is a park named after him, and a street named after him in Brampton. He was a doctor and a city councillor and a WWI veteran. It was under his jurisdiction and command that the poppy became the symbol it is today,” Verschuren said.
Verschuren emphasized the fact that Brampton as a City is one of the best in Ontario when it comes to the treatment of veterans.
Currently, it is the only municipality in Ontario that has a year-round pass that allows veterans to ride for free on Brampton Transit every day of the year.
“What I don’t want to happen, is these signs will be available in every community around us, but not in Brampton,” he said.
Cover photo courtesy of the Royal Canadian Legion via Instagram
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