Desperate Royal Canadian Legion branches deserve COVID bailouts | Lee Humphrey with Ezra Levant

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On November 11, Canadians all across the country pause for a moment to honour those who have fallen in service of defending and upholding the freedoms we cherish. In 1925, the organization that would become the Royal Canadian Legion was founded, eventually forming the legion we know now after receiving official patronage in 1960 from Queen Elizabeth II.

On yesterday's edition of The Ezra Levant Show, Ezra was joined by Lee Humphrey of Veterans for the Conservative Party of Canada to discuss the current troubled status of the Royal Canadian Legion.

Lee told Ezra about the trouble the legion is having with funding, particularly because of the COVID-19 pandemic and how the legion did not qualify for federal assistance:

Legion's do not qualify for any of the aid programs that have been put forward by the federal government. Some provinces, if I understand it correctly, have stepped up — I believe Saskatchewan has — some private donors have stepped up with some really large donations this year. But unfortunately a lot of those donations go to the most famous piece, which is the poppy fund.

The poppy fund has severe limits on what it can do with that money. That money can only go directly to help veterans, so it cannot help local legions stay in business, if you will. 

One of the greatest problems that we'll see if a local legion shuts down is what happens to the history, the memorabilia, the art, all of it that's been collected over the generations. Where does it go? Will it just disappear? And if it does, there goes our history and our remembrance.

Luckily, the government seems to have had a change of heart, and some relief could be on the way for the legion.

For the full episode of The Ezra Levant Show, and the full interview with Lee, be sure to SUBSCRIBE to RebelNews+.