Poppy = War = Evil

In case you were staying awake nights wondering who makes up that tiny percentage that Justice Woolcott was trying to protect from the trauma of having to see a POPPY in court . . . We seem to have found a spokesman - The Poppy is a Symbol that Represents War:

I support Justice Margaret Woolcott who did not want a police officer wearing a poppy in her court. The wearing of poppies is no longer a neutral symbol of honour to our fallen heroes. Without intending disrespect to our veterans of the past, present, or future, I want readers to know that, for a small but growing percentage of Canadians, the poppy has become a partisan symbol of acquiescence to the necessity for war and violence as a solution to human conflicts...

I'm guessing he's not big on "Support our Troops" ribbons or pins either.

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Tuesday Update: Excellent rebuttal letter in today's Record (Letter of the Day) - Poppy is the symbol of the price of war:

...If Rev. Bosch is correct that most pacifists focus on the poppy as a symbol of war, I trust they can accept that to me and to many of those who came back alive, and to many of those related to those who fought and died, the poppy does not represent war nor the taking of lives. Instead, it represents the freedoms we enjoy today, personal sacrifice, unbelievable hardship, lifetime comradeship, gravestones in a far-off country and the knowledge that we need to try harder to avoid letting people like Adolf Hitler ever again rise to power.

The poppy is a symbol of peace. The poppy cries out "Please, never again. The cost is way too high."