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CANADIAN VETERANS PROPOSING BAN ON VICTORIA CROSS SALES Groups in Canada are lobbying to make it illegal to sell war medals such as the Victoria Cross. -Editor The country's largest veterans organization came out Thursday in support of a federal NDP bid to outlaw the sale of war medals.The Royal Canadian Legion said the heroics of Canadian soldiers and police officers don't belong on the auction block. "We would like to see a law that stops the sale of Canadian war medals in Canada," said Bob Butt, the legion's communication director. Nova Scotia New Democrat Peter Stoffer, the party's veterans affairs critic, is upset about the pending sale of a Victoria Cross awarded to a First World War soldier. Robert Shankland was one of three soldiers who all lived on the same street in Winnipeg and who all won Commonwealth's highest decoration for military valour. The city renamed the street Valour Road. His medals are expected to be auctioned off privately very soon and Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson has already said that the federal government will not allow them to leave the country. Stoffer, who has lobbied for 10 years to ban the sale of medals, said the federal government must go further and simply halt such sales. "The Governor General gave these men and women medals in honour and recognition for service to their country," he told a Parliament Hill news conference. "She did not give them $100 bills to be hanging from their chest." Selling the Order of Canada is banned under federal legislation and the honours bestowed on soldiers and police officers should be no different, Stoffer added. To read the complete article, see: Legion and NDP want sale of war medals outlawed (www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ ALeqM5gVeFKEbMGGpHiZnm_81Ak_P44u0Q) Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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