Surprised no one posted about this; much coverage in the papers and on CTV last night. EDIT by Moderator - this is the merge point; obviously this had been posted previously by Bill Smy but I missed it.
Here is the scoop, as I see it.
A little fish in the NDP was approached by some WW II veterans to ask about a bill to prohibit the sale of Canadian medals.
Now, the NDA does have a clause where serving members cannot sell their medals (a holdover from the days of guys selling kit for beer money, I suppose), but says nothing about veterans. (The news seem to have gotten this wrong, saying that vets are prohibited from selling their medals; I don't see that as being the case).
The bill proposed by this NDP dude will prevent families from selling medals.
Why?
This NDPer went on TV with 13 veterans (all 80 years old it looked like) and tried to present this as a great service for the veterans.
Let's read between the lines here. Topham's VC g0es up for grabs, and a public outcry tries to raise 300,000 to keep it in Canada. They suceeded, but at some point the Government stepped in to pledge to top up the fund. I believe it wasn't necessary in the end, but how would the NDP feel about that?
What happens next time there is a hue and cry about something like this? Take 300,000 dollars and promote the military with it? That's money they could spend on furthering their ideas of a social utopia!
Worse, the Topham family benefited directly from the sale - the money did not go into a trust fund, it went into the Topham family pockets! What if government money had been used?
Solution: ban the sale of medals outright! End of problem.
My question is - how would the veterans benefit from such legislation? They have the option to sell, or keep, their own medals.
What harm could come from this?
Plenty.
a) loss of freedom, for one, plus a slipperly slope where other types of militaria may be similarly "protected". Want to buy a cap badge from your grandfather's regiment? Might be against the law next.
b) if there are no outlets for "disposal" of medals when veterans die, simply may simply get pitched out by families unaware of what they represent or uninterested
c) giving away medals would still be protected, but to whom would you give them? Museums have piles of 5-medal WW II racks (39-45 Star, Defence Medal, War Medal, CVSM, France-Germany Star). Let's not forget the Canadian War Museum in fact LOST one of our Victoria Crosses. Collectors care for medals just as well as museums; sometimes even more, as they will go and do the research on medal groups, get photos and documents - museums don't have the time to do what with all their medal groups
I can't see a single reason to ban the sale of medals, nor do I think this legislation would help veterans one single iota. It seems to me to be a way to get the Government off the hook for future medal buying obligations forced on them by the public who want to see VCs and other important artifacts remain in Canadian hands.
Other opinions?
