Gathered around one of several long tables at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 59 in Moose Jaw, Sask., a group of veterans chat and chuckle over a fresh pot of coffee.
It’s a tradition Don McDonald says he keeps up nearly every day.
“I’m here quite often, for sure. I’ll come down and just say hi to the guys, you know?” says McDonald, who served more than 30 years in the Canadian Armed Forces.
For McDonald and many others, the legion is more than a place to grab a coffee — it’s a place to connect, find friendship and belong.
“To me, it’s your second family. And with some people, it’s their first family,” said Christine Simpson, the branch’s president and a veteran of 28 years.
Simpson said the legion recreates the camaraderie of military life, bringing together people who understand one another and helping to maintain friendships across distance and time.
But as the historic organization marks its 100th anniversary, Simpson worries about its ability to continue supporting future generations of veterans.
Canadian Armed Forces veteran Don McDonald at Moose Jaw’s legion branch. He says the legion is a place to connect and find friendship. (Camilla Faragalli/CBC)
“We’re at a critical time,” she said. “We need volunteers that will step forward and give us a couple of hours a week.”
The branch has lost many members over the past five years, Simpson said, while younger members are often less involved.
Rising living costs and changing family demands are part of the problem. With more households relying on two incomes and people juggling work and family, fewer have time to volunteer, she said.
A new generation, a different legion
For some younger veterans, finding a sense of belonging at the legion hasn’t always been easy.
Jesse Darby, president of Legion Branch No. 61 in Melville, Sask., said he initially hesitated to get involved with an organization he associated largely with older generations.
“A lot of younger veterans don’t feel like we have a place, a voice or are even welcomed in the legion as it is today,” he said.
Darby, 35, said younger veterans can feel out of place in branches where they don’t see themselves reflected.
“When you have these civilian members in the legion just staring at you, like, ‘What are you doing here?’, it sets the combat veterans off,” he said.
Jesse Darby, president of Legion Branch No. 61 in Melville, addresses high school students at a Remembrance Day ceremony last year. (Submitted by Jesse Darby)
To attract younger members, Darby believes branches need to rethink how they operate and create more opportunities for people to socialize.
“Some pay-per-view nights, watching the Grey Cup, or Super Bowl parties or Stanley Cup parties.…You just have to be a little bit more creative, that’s all,” he said.
Darby also thinks branches could put more emphasis on support “and a little less on drinking.”
A century of support
In Moose Jaw, Simpson said money raised through the annual Remembrance Day poppy campaign stays in the community, helping veterans with everything from emergency travel expenses to basic household needs.
“If your furnace goes out and you can’t pay for it, the legion will step in,” she said.
But the needs of veterans have changed, and Simpson said the legion must change with them.
Christine Simpson, the Moose Jaw legion’s president, served 28 years with the Canadian Armed Forces. She says a dwindling number of volunteers poses a challenge for legions across Saskatchewan. (Camilla Faragalli/CBC)
“We have to modernize,” she said, pointing to the physical and psychological challenges faced by veterans who served in more recent conflicts, including in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf.
Kelsey Loney is executive director and chief historian of the Royal United Services Institute of Regina. She said that after the First World War, veterans’ organizations emerged across Canada to advocate for jobs, land, health care and other benefits.
In 1926, several of these groups came together to create what would become the Royal Canadian Legion, “That unified voice to advocate for veterans,” Loney said.
A century later, advocacy remains central to the work of legions, although their role has expanded to include community events, Remembrance Day ceremonies and support for veterans and their families.
Who will carry the torch?
Adapting to the needs of a new generation is one challenge — finding enough people to keep branches running is another.
In Lanigan, Sask., Legion Branch No. 143 has about 25 members on its books, but only eight to 10 are available to volunteer, treasurer Sharon Martin said.
With many members aging, even organizing routine events such as barbecue and Remembrance Day ceremonies is becoming increasingly difficult.
“We just need some younger people, and we need them to keep that vision alive and to support the legion,” said branch president Ralph Martin, who is Sharon’s husband.
The newly renovated legion branch in Lanigan, Sask., is marketing itself as an event space as part of a larger effort to draw community members. (Lanigan Legion/Facebook)
Loney said keeping branches relevant throughout the year is a challenge for legions across Saskatchewan. Public interest surges around Remembrance Day, she said, but many branches are much quieter outside November.
In Lanigan, members are trying to change that by making their branch a more welcoming and accessible community space.
“We’ve renovated it and licensed it so that we can rent it out and use it for social activities,” Martin said.
The hope is that bringing more people through the doors will help raise awareness of the legion and encourage new involvement.
“The more people you have in the building, the more awareness you create in the community. And hopefully, people will join and join and help us keep running the legion,” Martin said.
The branch has also invited school children to learn about veterans and the legion, an effort Martin hopes will help build connections with the next generation.
