Bloc MP Refuses Vet's Request For Canadian Flag

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2004-11-05 08:59pm

CBC.CA wrote: RICHMOND, QUEBEC - Veterans at a legion hall in Quebec are upset their Bloc MP is still refusing to provide them with new Canadian flags.

John Hill said he was told by the riding office of MP André Bellavance that handing out Canadian flags is against Bloc policy. Hill is the vice-president of the Royal Canadian legion branch in Richmond, 120 kilometres east of Montreal.

"Whether they separate or whether they don't separate , that's immaterial," Hill said. "When we request something from our federal MPs, they should have the decency to at least adhere to it."

Bellavance has said he provides a toll-free number to the federal Heritage Department if constituents want Canadian flags. He told the local newspaper that he doesn't "feel the obligation" to distribute the flags as a Bloc MP.

The Bloc doesn't have a policy on providing flags. Sherbrooke Bloc MP Serge Cardin and Compton-Stanstead Bloc MP France Bonsant said they have no problem getting flags for local Legion branches.

Bellavance says he'd be happy to intervene on behalf of constituents who may be having a hard time getting flags, but that doesn't include handing out flags himself.

The Conservative Party has stepped in and leader Stephen Harper says he will be in Richmond Saturday to deliver flags to the Royal Canadian Legion branch.

The veterans say they'll be happy to receive him but that doesn't erase their anger at Bellavance.

"If I had to vote to throw him out, I'd vote ten times maybe a thousand to throw him out," says Bruno Lavoie, a Second World War veteran. "He doesn't deserve to be there."

What a bunch of assholes.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2004-11-05 09:58pm

They refused to hand out flags? Why?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Prozac the Robert · Post by **Prozac the Robert** » 2004-11-05 10:30pm

Surely MPs don't have a personal responsability to hand out flags? Is there a parliamentry flag fund or what?

Axis Kast · Post by **Axis Kast** » 2004-11-05 10:48pm

I assume the office of the Bloc MP first refused to distribute the flags, and then the MP himself covered by making it appear as if he'd been asked to appear in person.

Dillon · Post by **Dillon** » 2004-11-06 12:11am

fgalkin wrote:They refused to hand out flags? Why?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Because they're a bunch of whining, shithead seperatists. Apparently, he wouldn't feel comfortable giving out Canadian flags, because he's a sovereignist.

I wonder how comfortable, let alone alive, he would be if those veterans, and all the brave souls who fought and died in the war, hadn't.

Prozac the Robert · Post by **Prozac the Robert** » 2004-11-06 11:13am

I still don't understand. Where do these flags come from? Do most MPs obtain flags for veterans? Who pays for them?

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2004-11-06 11:52am

Prozac the Robert wrote:I still don't understand. Where do these flags come from? Do most MPs obtain flags for veterans? Who pays for them?

Legions usually purchase their own flags. I'm thinking that maybe that particular Legion has financial trouble and they asked for help from their MP. The PC party has since said that they will supply the flags for them.