LAC LA BICHE - A Lac La Biche County councillor has taken aim at the local Royal Canadian Legion while defending a decision not to fund a proposed $140,000 upgrade to the organization’s existing building.
"Private club ... bar-style, no different than the Fat Unicorn"
Lac La Biche County councillor Darlene Beniuk comparing Royal Canadian Legion to a local bar
Councillor Darlene Beniuk is leaving little doubt about where she draws the battle lines when it comes to supporting Lac La Biche’s Royal Canadian Legion McGrane Branch 28, calling the local organization little more than a private bar.
“How many veterans sit as members? Two. How many sit on the board? None,” she said during discussions at council’s public meeting last week. “This is a private club, in my opinion, bar-style, no different than the Fat Unicorn or any on Main Street or at the end of the street … How are they any different?”
Royal Canadian Legions in communities across Canada continue a century-long tradition of bringing awareness to the sacrifices of conflict, honouring veterans, remembering the fallen, and supporting military and protective services members and their families.
Or, as Beniuk termed it for Lac La Biche — “a pub-style private club.”
Her comments were made as councillors were once again discussing the funding request from local Legion officials to renovate their lakeside building. Executive members of the McGrane Branch’s volunteer board of directors were hoping to access municipal grant funding to support their renovation plan for the building that was last updated 35 years ago. The original Legion foundations were built 100 years ago, shortly after the end of the First World War in 1918.
The re-visit to the funding request was brought to council by Mayor Paul Reutov. The mayor said he was concerned that perhaps council hadn’t voted with all the information about the project and the Legion’s own fundraising commitments. This was the third time in as many meetings that the ask has come back to the council table. Councillors already voted down the funding request in early April, saying it doesn’t meet the criteria needed in this particular community grant program.
Or, again, as Beniuk termed it last week — “It falls off the rails with me. I find being on the side of giving money to an unacceptable, pub-style private club is not in my mandate.”
Try again next year
Other councillors suggested Legion officials could re-apply next year with better documentation or submit another funding request for other grant funding programs. The latest request from the mayor to review the funding was accepted as information with no additional plans of action by council.
“When council accepts something as information, it’s a polite way of saying no,” explained councillor Lorin Tkachuk.
Lac La Biche Legion board member Ken Staples, one of the original presenters of the renovation plan, had no comment when asked about Beniuk’s statements and council’s most recent discussions.
The Lac La Biche Legion has a membership of about 150, all are voting members. Any community resident over the age of 18 can be a member of the Legion.
