The Politics of Yellow Ribbons - MERGED
- Thread starter super26
- Start date
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
I took the next day off after hearing my buddy Colin was one of the six killed on July 4, that day I received a phone call from Chief Graham expressing his condolences to myself, Colins family, and the Westies and stated that he was offering the use of the motorcycle drill team, pipe band, and ceremonial unit for the funeral if so desired by the family (the bike squad ended up escorting the funeral convoy). I can't say enough about Chief Graham's support for the troops, not only VPD members who are reservists, but the Forces in general. I had been wearing a support pin on my uniform ever since Colin and other good friends deployed on TF 1-06 and soon after Colin was killed, the Inspector in charge of the section I'm with ordered support pins for the entire section, those are likely the members you've seen wearing the pin.
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
P-PLATOON said:
How did a VPD cruiser get all the way to Hamilton?
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 60
I_am_John_Galt said:
GPS must have been on the fritz!! :
no really, though, I got caught up in my excitment of seeing the Hamilton Police Department having support our troop ribbons (first one I have seen) that I forgot the thread was about the VPD and not ribbons on police crusiers in general.
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 410
Well...since Darren Atwater likes to create magnets that bastardize our support for our fellow soldiers... i created one too!
Make your <a href="http://www.supportourribbons.com/">custom magnet</a> at <a href="http://www.supportourribbons.com/m/129818">SupportOurRibbons.com</a>
<a href="http://www.supportourribbons.com/m/129818"><img src="http://www.supportourribbons.com/e/129818.jpg" alt="Custom Ribbon Magnet: SUPPORT MedTech's Fight Against *** Hat Civis..."></a>
and I like mine better!
Make your <a href="http://www.supportourribbons.com/">custom magnet</a> at <a href="http://www.supportourribbons.com/m/129818">SupportOurRibbons.com</a>
<a href="http://www.supportourribbons.com/m/129818"><img src="http://www.supportourribbons.com/e/129818.jpg" alt="Custom Ribbon Magnet: SUPPORT MedTech's Fight Against *** Hat Civis..."></a>
and I like mine better!
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
Usual disclaimer
Dead soldier's mom outraged
Wonders why city permits Flames stickers on vehicles but bans troop-support decals
By TARINA WHITE -- Sun Media
The Calgary Sun
The mother of a fallen Calgary soldier is outraged city garbage trucks are emblazoned with stickers supporting a hockey team but can't show the same pride for local troops.
Maureen Eykelenboom, whose 23-year-old son Cpl. Andrew Eykelenboom was killed last August by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, said she was disgusted to see a garbage truck yesterday sporting a Calgary Flames logo, in light of this week's forced removal of yellow Support Our Troops ribbon decals from a dozen waste trucks.
"What is with our society that we can support a sports team but we cannot support our young men and women who are willing to risk their lives for our freedom?" she asked. "It was one more kick in the gut."
Last month, council shot down a motion from Ald. Ric McIver to put troop decals on the entire civic fleet.
In the absence of new direction from council, the existing policy banning third-party decals continues, said city spokeswoman Astrid Deslandes.
That means no third-party signage is permitted on city vehicles -- aside from sponsorship agreements -- and any offending material is removed during maintenance.
On Tuesday, a dozen garbage trucks bearing the troop decals were ordered into maintenance bays to pull the decorations.
A city sanitation worker who didn't want his name printed for fear of reprisal said he's fuming his boss allows Calgary Flames stickers on garbage trucks but won't permit the troop decals.
"Where is the legality that you can put a Flames sticker on but not a yellow ribbon?" the city employee said yesterday. "What's the difference?"
Eykelenboom said banning troop decals is insulting.
"It does not speak well of those who were elected into politics in Calgary," she said.
"I would challenge them to ask a parent of a fallen soldier to come and speak to them."
McIver plans to bring the issue back to council Sept. 10.
Decals will be offered for sale at city hall and the city's website starting Monday.
Link: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/War_Terror/2007/08/17/4425527-sun.html
Dead soldier's mom outraged
Wonders why city permits Flames stickers on vehicles but bans troop-support decals
By TARINA WHITE -- Sun Media
The Calgary Sun
The mother of a fallen Calgary soldier is outraged city garbage trucks are emblazoned with stickers supporting a hockey team but can't show the same pride for local troops.
Maureen Eykelenboom, whose 23-year-old son Cpl. Andrew Eykelenboom was killed last August by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, said she was disgusted to see a garbage truck yesterday sporting a Calgary Flames logo, in light of this week's forced removal of yellow Support Our Troops ribbon decals from a dozen waste trucks.
"What is with our society that we can support a sports team but we cannot support our young men and women who are willing to risk their lives for our freedom?" she asked. "It was one more kick in the gut."
Last month, council shot down a motion from Ald. Ric McIver to put troop decals on the entire civic fleet.
In the absence of new direction from council, the existing policy banning third-party decals continues, said city spokeswoman Astrid Deslandes.
That means no third-party signage is permitted on city vehicles -- aside from sponsorship agreements -- and any offending material is removed during maintenance.
On Tuesday, a dozen garbage trucks bearing the troop decals were ordered into maintenance bays to pull the decorations.
A city sanitation worker who didn't want his name printed for fear of reprisal said he's fuming his boss allows Calgary Flames stickers on garbage trucks but won't permit the troop decals.
"Where is the legality that you can put a Flames sticker on but not a yellow ribbon?" the city employee said yesterday. "What's the difference?"
Eykelenboom said banning troop decals is insulting.
"It does not speak well of those who were elected into politics in Calgary," she said.
"I would challenge them to ask a parent of a fallen soldier to come and speak to them."
McIver plans to bring the issue back to council Sept. 10.
Decals will be offered for sale at city hall and the city's website starting Monday.
Link: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/War_Terror/2007/08/17/4425527-sun.html
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
and another Alberta town weighs in.
Airdrie's fleet to don ribbons
By SHAWN LOGAN, SUN MEDIA
Airdrie will add yellow ribbon decals to its vehicle fleet following a unanimous council vote yesterday, a month after Calgary's aldermen shot down the controversial plan.
There was little debate before the 7-0 vote, which will pave the way for the city's 73 vehicles to be affixed with the troop support stickers, something Mayor Linda Bruce said is a good way to show Canadian soldiers and their families that their sacrifice is appreciated.
"Sometimes even a small gesture can be a meaningful gesture," she said yesterday.
"Essentially our military are peacekeepers and when we acknowledge our general role in the world, to show support for the troops isn't an issue."
Calgary's council decided not to adorn its vehicles with the patriotic decorations following a fiery debate last month, opting instead to sell the stickers at city facilities and hand the money over to the Military Family Resource Centre.
Blake Richards, an Airdrie resident and candidate for the federal Conservative nomination in the Wild Rose riding, brought the matter to council and has volunteered to donate all the decals the city needs.
Airdrie is just the latest community to adopt the plan along with Edmonton, Brooks, Medicine Hat and even the provincial government.
The debate is expected to heat up again Sept. 10 when Ald. Ric McIver, who made the original push for the stickers, attempts to bring the matter back for council to reconsider.
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2007/08/21/pf-4434108.html
Airdrie's fleet to don ribbons
By SHAWN LOGAN, SUN MEDIA
Airdrie will add yellow ribbon decals to its vehicle fleet following a unanimous council vote yesterday, a month after Calgary's aldermen shot down the controversial plan.
There was little debate before the 7-0 vote, which will pave the way for the city's 73 vehicles to be affixed with the troop support stickers, something Mayor Linda Bruce said is a good way to show Canadian soldiers and their families that their sacrifice is appreciated.
"Sometimes even a small gesture can be a meaningful gesture," she said yesterday.
"Essentially our military are peacekeepers and when we acknowledge our general role in the world, to show support for the troops isn't an issue."
Calgary's council decided not to adorn its vehicles with the patriotic decorations following a fiery debate last month, opting instead to sell the stickers at city facilities and hand the money over to the Military Family Resource Centre.
Blake Richards, an Airdrie resident and candidate for the federal Conservative nomination in the Wild Rose riding, brought the matter to council and has volunteered to donate all the decals the city needs.
Airdrie is just the latest community to adopt the plan along with Edmonton, Brooks, Medicine Hat and even the provincial government.
The debate is expected to heat up again Sept. 10 when Ald. Ric McIver, who made the original push for the stickers, attempts to bring the matter back for council to reconsider.
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2007/08/21/pf-4434108.html
M
mudrecceman
Guest
+1. Hopefully Calgary will reverse their "position" given the opportunity.
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 410
Two more soldiers have been killed and the city still refuses to place support decals on its cars - What gives?
By JOE WARMINGTON
Upset the city has not yet placed Support Our Troops decals on police cars, the Toronto Police Association has gone ahead and purchased the ribbons and sent them along with a stern letter of protest to the Police Services Board chair, the Sun has learned.
With two more deaths in Afghanistan yesterday, 15 soldiers have died since the day Toronto city council passed a resolution calling for support decals to be placed on all emergency vehicles, including police cars.
And yet the yellow ribbons are still not on the police cars. What gives? That's what a livid police union boss Dave Wilson would like to know.
In a letter to Police Services Board Chairman Alok Mukherjee, obtained by the Sun through sources, Wilson has demanded immediate action.
"As you know, we have made repeated attempts to address this important initiative with you and Chief (Bill) Blair and for reasons unknown to us, our efforts to work with you on this meaningful project have so far been ignored," wrote Wilson. "Our members have expressed concern that they are being denied an opportunity to show respect and appreciation to the men and women who also risk their lives to help protect others."
Many police officers, on duty and off, will be at a giant Red Friday rally at the CNE at 2 p.m. tomorrow to show that support. But Wilson wants city council to honour what it said it would do by placing those decals on the cars immediately.
On June 20, reacting to pressure from the public who were outraged over a decision to remove support decals from fire trucks and ambulances, the council ended up unanimously supporting the idea and also included they be added to the police vehicles.
It has been caught up in bureaucracy ever since. Wilson claims he has not even been able to get a dialogue going.
"It is most unfortunate that to date, the Police Services Board and the Chief have not seen fit to work with us on this worthy project," he wrote. "Four weeks have now passed since our last correspondence and still we have received no response."
A spokesman for Mukherjee said "we did receive the letter" but that the chairman is out of town and would not be able to address it until Monday. A call was put in to Blair and his spokesman, Const. Wendy Drummond, said the service's position is that "we support the forces in many other ways but it will not be on the vehicles."
It's strange since it is very clear in the council's resolution that it would include the vehicles. It is also strange since few have been more supportive of the troops than Blair. In fact when we organized the pro-troops rally last September both Blair and Wilson were the reason it ever happened. Both offered manpower and assistance and both gave passionate speeches from the podium.
Even Mayor David Miller, who is also out of town this week, has been supportive of the pro-troops initiative and spoke at that same rally.
So if Blair is not behind blocking this and neither is Miller, who is?
Could it be the power of vote abstainers led by councillors Pam McConnell, Janet Davis, Gord Perks and Adam Giambrone who seem to think a ribbon promotes a political or pro-war message?
Surely they don't have the kind of power to overrule the unanimously passed resolution, the mayor and the police chief? Something smells here. It's awful. The families of the war dead must be sick to their stomachs.
Wilson was tired of waiting and just went ahead and ordered the decals. He sent them in a box to Mukherjee yesterday. "Enclosed you will find Support Our Troops decals purchased by the Toronto Police Association for the purpose of displaying them in marked police vehicles as per City Council's resolution in June 2007," he wrote. "We have purchased enough decals to place on each marked Toronto police vehicle and would be pleased to forward additional decals to you should they be required. Our hope is by supplying you with these decals you will reassess your position and put an end to any further delay."
Wilson would love it if the decals could be placed in the windows of the squad cars for tomorrow's pro-troops rally at the CNE. "It is our hope that since the decals are now available for distribution, you will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that our members are able to proudly demonstrate their support for the men and women serving abroad," he wrote.
You think this embattled city council, which has had a bad summer, could get this one right.
Here's some advice from one voter. Just put the yellow decals on the police cars as you decided to do in your resolution.
And please stop embarrassing us.
By JOE WARMINGTON
Upset the city has not yet placed Support Our Troops decals on police cars, the Toronto Police Association has gone ahead and purchased the ribbons and sent them along with a stern letter of protest to the Police Services Board chair, the Sun has learned.
With two more deaths in Afghanistan yesterday, 15 soldiers have died since the day Toronto city council passed a resolution calling for support decals to be placed on all emergency vehicles, including police cars.
And yet the yellow ribbons are still not on the police cars. What gives? That's what a livid police union boss Dave Wilson would like to know.
In a letter to Police Services Board Chairman Alok Mukherjee, obtained by the Sun through sources, Wilson has demanded immediate action.
"As you know, we have made repeated attempts to address this important initiative with you and Chief (Bill) Blair and for reasons unknown to us, our efforts to work with you on this meaningful project have so far been ignored," wrote Wilson. "Our members have expressed concern that they are being denied an opportunity to show respect and appreciation to the men and women who also risk their lives to help protect others."
Many police officers, on duty and off, will be at a giant Red Friday rally at the CNE at 2 p.m. tomorrow to show that support. But Wilson wants city council to honour what it said it would do by placing those decals on the cars immediately.
On June 20, reacting to pressure from the public who were outraged over a decision to remove support decals from fire trucks and ambulances, the council ended up unanimously supporting the idea and also included they be added to the police vehicles.
It has been caught up in bureaucracy ever since. Wilson claims he has not even been able to get a dialogue going.
"It is most unfortunate that to date, the Police Services Board and the Chief have not seen fit to work with us on this worthy project," he wrote. "Four weeks have now passed since our last correspondence and still we have received no response."
A spokesman for Mukherjee said "we did receive the letter" but that the chairman is out of town and would not be able to address it until Monday. A call was put in to Blair and his spokesman, Const. Wendy Drummond, said the service's position is that "we support the forces in many other ways but it will not be on the vehicles."
It's strange since it is very clear in the council's resolution that it would include the vehicles. It is also strange since few have been more supportive of the troops than Blair. In fact when we organized the pro-troops rally last September both Blair and Wilson were the reason it ever happened. Both offered manpower and assistance and both gave passionate speeches from the podium.
Even Mayor David Miller, who is also out of town this week, has been supportive of the pro-troops initiative and spoke at that same rally.
So if Blair is not behind blocking this and neither is Miller, who is?
Could it be the power of vote abstainers led by councillors Pam McConnell, Janet Davis, Gord Perks and Adam Giambrone who seem to think a ribbon promotes a political or pro-war message?
Surely they don't have the kind of power to overrule the unanimously passed resolution, the mayor and the police chief? Something smells here. It's awful. The families of the war dead must be sick to their stomachs.
Wilson was tired of waiting and just went ahead and ordered the decals. He sent them in a box to Mukherjee yesterday. "Enclosed you will find Support Our Troops decals purchased by the Toronto Police Association for the purpose of displaying them in marked police vehicles as per City Council's resolution in June 2007," he wrote. "We have purchased enough decals to place on each marked Toronto police vehicle and would be pleased to forward additional decals to you should they be required. Our hope is by supplying you with these decals you will reassess your position and put an end to any further delay."
Wilson would love it if the decals could be placed in the windows of the squad cars for tomorrow's pro-troops rally at the CNE. "It is our hope that since the decals are now available for distribution, you will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that our members are able to proudly demonstrate their support for the men and women serving abroad," he wrote.
You think this embattled city council, which has had a bad summer, could get this one right.
Here's some advice from one voter. Just put the yellow decals on the police cars as you decided to do in your resolution.
And please stop embarrassing us.
Similar threads
