The Support Our Troops ribbon on Toronto Fire vehicles, which were paid for by firefighters, are to be removed in September. (Joe Warmington/Sun Media)
Our brave troops will still be fighting in Afghanistan this September even if the magnetic ribbon support decals on Toronto Fire trucks and ambulances won't be.
The city has ordered the Support Our Troop decals to be removed from all fire trucks and EMS vehicles on Sept. 4, the Sun has learned.
The reason? It depends on who you talk to. And there are lots of contradictions.
Some say it is because it was not brought to council for proper approval, others say protocol was not followed. Another reason given is it was a one-year project.
But many City Hall sources tell me it has everything to do with some complaints from a few anti-war citizens who have the ear of some leftist councillors -- and felt the ribbons were in support of the war in Afghanistan and not just in support of the troops.
'IN CONVERSATIONS'
"It was a decision I made in conversations I had with the two chiefs," said city manager Shirley Hoy, who was good enough to return a call yesterday on this and own up.
Several members of council did not extend the courtesy. Having said that, Hoy, though, still attempted to dance around this by saying it was a "one-year support program" and that the decision was made to remove the decals when the vehicles were scheduled for "regular maintenance."
Surely, Shirley, every vehicle is not going in on the same day for repairs?
Later she admitted the support ribbons did not meet "certain corporate standards" for the city.
Maybe we can arrange to give the troops over there some parking tickets and send over a bylaw officer to make sure they are complying with the smoking rules? Corporate standards! What the hell are they talking about?
The whole thing is outrageous but at least now we are on to what this is really all about. They should just say it. This is the politically correct leftist crowd getting their way -- at the expense of our amazing troops in the battle of their lives. This has got to be a moral victory for the Taliban.
The guys really on the spot here are Fire Chief Bill Stewart and Ambulance Chief Bill Farr. Two very good guys who essentially answer to council and to senior administration and have their hands tied. Also, there is no way the paramedics and firefighters in this town would approve. I know many and their respect for the troops is unwavering.
While Chief Stewart said the decals "did not meet corporate standards ... and the corporate policy must be adhered to," decals or no decals he also emphasized "we certainly support the Canadian troops." He said firefighters have had fundraisers and other initiatives to show that.
If they do, no political pressure from some leftist anti-war activist should be able to stop that.
Shame on anybody who is messing with that. Like it or not, this country is at war and it's imperative we support the men and women doing the heavy lifting every chance we get. Hoy told me the decals were put on a year ago and were to be removed at the end of one year. No one else indicated this was the plan.
If it was, it would be unprecedented in Canadian military history. Imagine if they'd put up yellow ribbons during World War II for just the year 1942? There is at least one veteran upset about this.
"I can guarantee that no one on city council has ever served in the Armed Forces but they are always eager to jump to the front of the line when a Forces photo opportunity comes along and shout that they support the troops," said Don Ashfield.
"City council can vote approval to bump their pay, pad their expense accounts and attend many meetings where free food is given, but Support Our Troops? Never."
A spokesman in the mayor's office said he "didn't know anything about this." Same goes for several other councillors -- all of whom did not return calls.
Yeah, sure!
Scott Marks, president of the Toronto Professional Fire Fighters Association, said the reaction of members ranges from some who are not too worked up to others who are outraged. It was the association who designed and paid for the decals on the fire trucks -- the EMS ones were paid for with taxpayers' money.
More than a month ago pressure was brought to bear by Now magazine, which quoted specifically Councillor Janet Davis. "I do connect the Afghan mission to the Support Our Troops sticker. That is where our troops are being killed," she told Now reporter Andrew Cash in May.
"Not only does this not communicate a City of Toronto policy, but it also sends a political message about a public policy matter that is quite contentious. And we shouldn't be using public funds for it."
'A POLITICAL MESSAGE'
But if we are going to be by the book about public money at City Hall, let's not start at the expense of the at-risk troops -- 57 of whom have died in battle.
This is not the issue to try to show corporate precision and integrity. Try doing it when you are quietly voting yourselves an 11% raise.
Whatever you think of this, a decision has been made to have those decals removed. "I think it's crazy," said one firefighter. "We sent over a video to the troops to show them these ribbons on the trucks. I hope they know we still support them."
Perhaps this is not over yet. It's actually up to you. This might be a time for us to collectively speak up. If there is public reaction against this nonsense, maybe we can turn this around and they will leave those decals right where they are -- and leave them there until every member of our Canadian Armed Forces is back from this conflict and not a moment before.
Our troops will still be fighting in Afghanistan in September and if we make enough noise perhaps those decals supporting them will remain on the side of our municipal emergency vehicles.
