Fraser Valley (With files from News1130/Star FM) – “Right across the country we have branches that are sitting on prime pieces of property. In essence, we are asset-rich in a lot of centres and we are cash-flow poor, because we do have declining membership.” – A Calgary Legion spokesperson.
There is a crisis for Canadian Legions. Dwindling membership and a major drop in relevance.
That feel is very evident from younger vets. Those are the ones who were stationed in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia and other current hot spots that the Canadian Military sent them
Many of these vets won’t attend the Legion, for they feel it’s “just an old boys club” for the elder vets. The ones from WW2, and Korea, even a few Canadians who served in Vietnam.
It’s a trend across Canada, one that has seen the number of legion members dwindle to about 300,000 — down from 400,000 a decade ago.
Back in September at the Langley Legion, the lounge closed due to financial problems, although it continues to operate as a service branch.
Membership at Legions is declining to the point where one must wonder, will we eventually lose these gathering places?
