The Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) has become entangled in the red versus white poppy debate, sparking conversation on what defines a “real” Canadian.
The discussion started with a Facebook post by RRRA president Will Cathcart, which shows a picture of RRRA distributing poppies with the caption “Red Poppies. For Real Canadians. Don’t Support our Troops? Feel free to get in front of them” and the hashtag “#whitepoppies.”
The post was made in response to white poppies being distributed by Ceasefire, a social group promoting “peace, disarmament and social justice,” according to their website.
Celyn Dufay, spokesperson for Ceasefire’s I Remember for Peace campaign, said the campaign’s intent is to promote a national discussion on peace.
“We want to support and honour our veterans by providing greater emphasis on the importance of peace,” Dufay said via email.
Cathcart, who is currently serving in the military, said the red poppies are meant to honour Canadian freedom. Those freedoms “have been bought by people who have given their lives,” he said.
“If you don’t want to honour that, I don’t believe that you quite understand the context of being Canadian. That was all I was saying,” he said.
Arun Smith, an eighth-year human rights and political science student who responded to the post, said that defining a “real” Canadian is a “very dangerous area.”
“I think that there is a narrative in this country that patriotism and nationalism are necessary in order to be a functional part of the society,” he said.
“I think that’s seriously troubling because it works to homogenize a whole bunch of sets of identities and experiences that may not and often do not fit within . . . a typically whitewashed narrative,” he said.
Cathcart said someone’s choice to wear another type of poppy does not make them less Canadian.
“We understand what being Canadian is differently. I think you have to pay respects to the people who fell before us, and I would really like to talk to the people who understand that differently,” he said. “If you are as Canadian as you are, it’s not something that I can make calls on.”
Smith said he would like to see RRRA either not distribute poppies or distribute other poppies in addition to the red poppies.
“I have no objection . . . to people choosing how to commemorate ideas of remembrance. That’s an extraordinarily individual thing,” he said. “We shouldn’t be policing how people remember.”
Cathcart said RRRA will continue to only distribute the red poppy.
