White poppies: Why a symbol of peace have never really caught on in Canada
More than five years after the white poppy campaign sparked a rancorous debate about how Canadians should reflect on Remembrance Day, the anti-war movement is still stinging from its ugly standoff with the Royal Canadian Legion.
Organizers behind the low-key campaign, which promotes peace and remembers civilian casualties of war, admit the legion’s opposition has undermined the popularity of the white poppy, with only 1,200 of the pale, homemade flowers distributed last year in advance of Remembrance Day.
“Unfortunately, the legion’s negativity — turning it into an either/or — has done a lot of damage in terms of discouraging people,” says author and peace activist Heather Menzies.
“In terms of message control, they have succeeded in communicating: ‘If you wear the white poppy, it means that you are not honouring the war dead.’”