Q: What is the proper etiquette for wearing a poppy on Remembrance Day? When do you take it off? Which side do you wear it on? Can you use a Canada flag pin or other device to secure it? Why is the poppy's centre black? Didn't it used to be green?
A: Wearing poppies as a symbol of remembrance is a 93-year-old tradition in Canada.
The tradition was inspired by the poem In Flanders Fields, written on May 3, 1915 by Canadian Lt.-Col. John McCrae after the death his friend during the Battle of St. Julien, near Ypres, in the Belgian province of West Flanders.
Poppies are worn at military memorial events, such as Remembrance Day, in Canada, the U.S., U.K., New Zealand, Australia and Malta.
In Canada, an annual poppy campaign is organized by the Royal Canadian Legion.
The 2013 edition of the Poppy Manual provided to local Legion branches, mentions the proper protocol for wearing the poppy:
The poppy is traditionally worn during the Remembrance period, from the last Friday in October to end of the day on Nov. 11. However poppies may be worn at other commemorative events, marking anniversaries of battles or at funerals for veterans and Legion members. It is also considered acceptable to remove the poppy at the base of the Cenotaph at the end of the Remembrance Day Ceremony.
The poppy should be worn on the left breast or left lapel, close to the heart. The poppy is always worn on the outermost garment -such as an overcoat.
The Legion sees the poppy as the sacred symbol of Remembrance, and advocates against using a Canada flag pin or any other device that might deface the poppy to hold it secure. That said, the Legion also acknowledges it is better to wear a poppy with a pin than not at all.
To answer the final question, the poppies distributed in Canada had black centres prior to 1980. From 1980 to 2001, the Legion poppies had green centres. But in 2002 the poppies were returned to red and black to reflect the species of poppy - Papaver rhoeas, known as the red-flowered corn poppy or common poppy - that flourished on the artillery-ravaged fields of Flanders during the First World War.
The common poppy is an agricultural weed that had been known to thrive on former battlefields since at least the Napoleonic War.
Today it a symbol of the heroism and sacrifice of Canada's soldiers, veterans and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
A TAXING QUESTION
Q: Can someone run for mayor or city council if they are in arrears in paying their property taxes to the city?
A: It depends. Specifically it depends on which part of the country the municipality is in.
Under the constitution, municipalities are governed by provincial and territorial governments. Each province and territory sets the guidelines for how municipal governments operate and conduct elections through legislation.
Some provinces and territories do bar candidates who owe money to a municipality from running for office in that community.
In Alberta, for example, section 22(1)(c) of the Local Authorities Election Act says a person is not eligible to be nominated to run for office in a community if on the nomination day "the person is indebted to the municipality of which the person is an elector for taxes in default exceeding $50..."
Candidates aren't disqualified for taxes owed in the current year, or if they have a repayment agreement in place for outstanding back taxes with the municipality and are up to date in that payment schedule.
Alberta's legislation also disqualifies a candidate from being nominated if "the person is indebted to the local jurisdiction for which the election is to be held for any debt exceeding $500 and in default for more than 90 days."
So if you want to run for mayor of Calgary, you can't have a bunch of unpaid parking tickets.
Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, the Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories all have similar clauses in their legislation governing municipal elections.
Nova Scotia even requires candidates to obtain a certificate from the municipality showing their property taxes are paid in full as of their nomination day.
The Northwest Territories and Nunavut extend their legislation beyond personal debts, and prohibit someone with a controlling interest in a private or public corporation that owes more than $500 to the municipality from running for office as well.
However in B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and PEI, there is no requirement for candidates in local elections to have their taxes, fees and other debts to the municipality paid up before being nominated for office.
In B.C. the Local Government Act, Community Charter and Local Elections Campaign Financing Act spell out who can run, and who is disqualified from running, in local elections.
Under the B.C. Local Government Act, a candidate for city council or mayor must simply be 18 years old or older on election day; a Canadian citizen; a resident of B.C. for at least six months prior to election day; and not disqualified by any other section of the act or any other legislation.
Judges, municipal employees and people convicted of various forms of election fraud are banned from running for office, but there are few other restrictions.
This was illustrated clearly in the 2011 municipal election in Prince George.
On Sept. 6, 2013 Coun. Cameron Stolz's home was listed in the Tax Sale of Lands notice published by the City of Prince George. The notice listed properties for which property taxes had not been paid in the past three years.
Those properties on the list that had not paid their outstanding taxes by Sept. 30, 2013 were sold at auction by the city to recoup the lost revenue.
At that time Stolz owed $15,064.78 in back taxes and penalties over three years. His home was not listed on the second list published on Sept. 25, 2013, meaning the taxes were paid between the first and second publication.
That means Stolz had missed the July 2011 property tax deadline and was in arrears for one year's property taxes when he successfully ran for reelection in the Nov. 23, 2011 municipal election.
Stolz's reelection was entirely within the law in B.C., as it would be in most jurisdictions in Canada. Even among the three provinces and three territories that prohibit candidates with outstanding tax debts to be nominated for office, most give an exemption for taxes owed in the same calendar year.
Only in Newfoundland and Labrador or Nova Scotia would Stolz, or any other candidate in the same circumstances, have been barred from running.
Do you have questions about events in the news? Are you puzzled by some local oddity? Does something you've seen, heard or read just not make sense? Email your questions to awilliams@pgcitizen.ca, and award-winning investigative reporter Arthur Williams will try to get to the bottom of it.
