CHATEAUGUAY – Veterans selling poppies in Chateauguay have been left feeling rejected and ignored by local businesses.
Veterans at the Royal Canadian legion in Chateauguay said the had set up a poppy box at the local Pharmaprix.
The legion said that when one of its members went to re-stock the next day, the box was nowhere to be seen.
“He called over the manager, and the manager said, ‘Oh I did not authorize this, remove them from the store and don’t come back,'” said Jasmine Zeitouni, the Legion’s secretary.
That was despite having obtained permission from Pharmaprix’s head office.
“It was very disrespectful to the veterans, a lot of his customers are veterans, their families, there’s people coming back from the war right now,” said Zeitouni.
“Our community is full of veterans, it was awful.”
Veterans also said they asked to set up poppy boxes at the local Super C and Maxi, and that they followed up but never heard back.
Global News spoke to the manager at Super C, she said it was all a misunderstanding, that the person in charge of those requests is sick.
Pharmaprix has since apologized and invited the legion back into the store. So has Super C.
Pharmaprix is also making a $1,000 donation to the poppy program that should help offset the $2,000 the legion said it lost this year.
“It’s going to our veterans and they’re just taking it away from them, it’s a big loss for us,” said Zeitouni.
This incident has also upset residents. It’s why some are planning to boycott the stores in question on Remembrance Day.
“I’ll stop going to Pharmaprix too because I just buried my uncle who was in World War II,” said a resident.
“We’re all here because of these people.”
“I don’t think it was right,” said another resident. “I’m thinking of myself maybe boycotting the store.”
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