Royal Canadian Legions will keep marching on. The Royal Canadian Legion was created by veterans’ organizations a century ago in Winnipeg. Now, Ottawa is chipping in to hep celebrate it’s centennial. Canada’s Veteran Affairs minister announced Monday $300,000 from its commemorative partnership program will be split between 75 projects marking the milestone. “We’re self funded at the legion, so anytime the legion can receive a grant to do something special, well that means a lot to us,” said Berkley Lawrence, the dominion president of the Royal Canadian Legion. Manitoba projects getting cash included the Belgian Independence Day parade, banners in Minnedosa and Gimli, and a Manitoba Métis Federation Royal Canadian Legion centennial celebration. The anniversary was also commemorated with the circulation of a new coin featuring a royal crest, the legion’s motto, silhouettes of a soldier, woman, and child, and the iconic poppy. “In total, the mint will produce three million of these coins and release them in circulation, said Simon Kamel, the interim president and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. The twoonie was designed by Calgary’s Vladyslava Pashchenko - who won a youth poster contest in 2023.
