After requesting Memorial Park be cleared of the homeless encampment to hold its Remembrance Day ceremony, Royal Canadian Legion branches 564 and 76 have now elected to cancel the event, Sudbury.com has learned.
In a decision that drew criticism from several circles, including direct support and outreach workers who work with the homeless population, the two Legion Branches, also known as Lockerby and Dr. Fred Starr, issued a press release on Oct. 26 stating that there would be a ceremony held at the Memorial Park Cenotaph on Nov. 11.
In the release, the branches made a point of stating the homeless encampment currently located in Memorial Park would be cleared completely, with Jennifer Huard, president of Branch 564, telling Sudbury.com later that the choice was made at the request of the Legion’s membership, suggesting the city was on board with the branches’ request and would be clearing the encampment prior to Nov. 11.
But her belief that the park would be cleared completely was a result of a “miscommunication” said Maggie Frampton from the City of Greater Sudbury’s communications department. In a statement issued to Sudbury.com, Frampton stated, “For health and safety reasons, we are respectfully evaluating abandoned structures and belongings.”
“We will be cleaning up any garbage to help improve the safety of everyone living in the park. “This does not mean forcible removal or displacing of individuals and their belongings. A general clean up and clearing of the area near the ceremony site is a priority as we approach Remembrance Day. This is a public event that everyone is welcome to attend the ceremony,” stated Frampton.
Sudbury.com had requested an interview on the issue with Gail Spencer, the city’s co-ordinator of shelters and homelessness, in order to clarify the city’s position on clearing the park and to confirm the information in the news release from the Legion branches. However, in what has become a common practice with the City of Greater Sudbury, a statement was issued instead, denying Sudbury.com an interview and the ability to ask questions.
As far as Huard understood though, there was no miscommunication. In a followup interview with Sudbury.com, Huard noted that she had completed and sent a special events permit application “two to three weeks” previous to the Oct. 26 release, and that the events permit, which was approved, could only be granted once evaluated and approved by Public Health Sudbury and Districts, the city, and Greater Sudbury Police Service.
“Our request was to have the entire park cleaned out, and I included in my special events application form an actual map that comes right from Google Maps,” said Huard.
She told Sudbury.com that her application has the whole park marked off to ensure COVID protocols are met, and that application was approved by the city.
“We had to do a calculation in terms of the square meters and how many people we could hold safely to ensure we were within the COVID-19 guidelines,” said Huard.
She said there is no way to simply remove abandoned structures, as there are some in use directly in front of the area they wish to use for their PA system.
Huard said approximately 1,500 to 2,000 people were expected at the ceremony, including provincial and federal dignitaries, and that a partial removal would not suffice. She said the communications department at the city is “misinformed.”
Huard said it was important to be outside as a reminder of what it was like to serve overseas in harsh conditions.
She also noted that there are not many Second World War veterans still attending services — protection of elderly attendees being the reason the ceremonies went indoor in 1985.
The ceremony the Legion intended to hold would be the first Remembrance Day held outside since 1985. The ceremony has been held at the arena since then, save for 2020 when the pandemic required the individual branches to hold their own individual services.
With the cancellation of the Memorial Park event, Legion branches in the city will host their own smaller, individual services for 2021, much the same as in 2020.
Since that time, Sudbury.com again attempted to verify the details of the ceremony with the City of Greater Sudbury, both to confirm the details of any Remembrance Day permits issued and where the potential miscommunication may have occurred, but the city only issued an additional statement.
“We value the sacrifice of our veterans who have served at home and abroad. We have received an online application for the event and city staff continue to work with the organizers on the Remembrance Day event.”
