Charles Belzile is a native of Trois-Pistoles, Québec whose military career started in 1951 when he joined the Canadian Army (Regular). Commissioned as a lieutenant in the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada infantry regiment, he served as a platoon commander in the Korean War. He continued his service after the war in a number of progressive leadership positions.
In 1968 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel and appointed Commanding Officer, 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment, at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, Québec. In 1972, as a colonel, he was appointed Commander, Combat Arms School, at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, New Brunswick. He went on to command 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in the former Federal Republic of Germany as a brigadier-general and later, upon promotion to major-general in 1977 he took command of Canadian Forces Europe. In 1981 he was promoted lieutenant-general and appointed Commander, Mobile Command, the title under which the army was known at that time. He retired from active duty in 1986.
Since his retirement he has continued to play and active and vital role in Canadian and international affairs. He served as a vice-president of SNC Industrial Technologies from 1987 until 1992. In 1994 he became part of a team participating in a detailed study designed to improve the efficiency of the Irish Defence Forces. He served on the Special Commission on the Restructuring of the Canadian Forces Reserves, was a member of the Special Advisory Group on Military Justice and Military Police Investigation Services and, in 1998, was appointed head of the Military Police Services Review Group.
Mr. Belzile is a Member of the Order of Canada, Commander of the Order of Military Merit, recipient of the French Légion d’Honneur and the Vimy Award. He has also served in numerous voluntary positions including president of the Canadian Battle of Normandy Foundation (now the Canadian Battlefields Foundation), president of the Conference of Defence Associations and as a member of the Canadian War Museum Advisory Council.
He was appointed to the honorary position of Honorary Grand President of The Royal Canadian Legion on 24 November 2001.
July 2008
The following is a list of
the Dominion Command Senior Elected Officers of The Royal Canadian Legion. They may
be contacted by mail by writing to:
Comrade Wilfred Edmond of Donkin, Nova Scotia, was elected to the position of Dominion President at the The Royal Canadian Legion’s 42nd Dominion Convention in Ottawa, Ont., in June 2008. The former member of the Canadian Army’s Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps has been a member of The Royal Canadian Legion since joining the Donkin, N.S. branch in 1958.
Comrade Edmond retired from the Cape Breton Development Corporation in 1991 after 36 years of service as a manager with the preventative maintenance department. He is also a 35 year member of the Donkin Volunteer Fire Department, is an avid singer and was a member of the “Men of the Deeps” choir.
He was elected as his branch’s President in 1966 and served in that position until 1979. Two years later he was elected to command Nova Scotia’s Zone # 4. Having served at various levels on the Provincial Executive Council for 14 years, he was elected to the position of Provincial President in 1993. He has served on the Legion’s Dominion Executive Council since 1995 and held positions on all major committees. He is a life member of his branch and has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and the Palm Leaf.
Comrade Edmond is married to the former Annie MacLeod of Donkin and they have three grown children, a daughter and two sons, both of whom are in the Canadian Forces.
July 2008
Pat Varga
Dominion First Vice-President
The Royal Canadian Legion
Comrade Pat Varga joined the Marshall Branch of The Royal Canadian Legion in Saskatchewan in 1980 as an Ordinary Member following service in the Royal Canadian Navy. In June 2002 she was elected as a Dominion Vice-President at the 39th Dominion Convention held in Edmonton, Alta. and was re-elected at the London, Ont., Dominion Convention in 2004. At the 41st Dominion Convention in Calgary, Alta., she was again elected as a Dominion Vice-President. At the 42nd Dominion Convention in Ottawa she was chosen as the Dominion First Vice-President.
Since joining the Legion, Comrade Varga has continued to serve in a variety of offices at her branch including Treasurer, President, Membership Chairman and Service Officer. She was first elected to the executive of Saskatchewan Provincial Command in 1991 where she served as a Zone Commander, District Commander, Vice-President, and First Vice-President attaining the office of Provincial Command President in 1999 and serving there until 2001.
A member of the Legion’s Dominion Executive Council for 15 years, Comrade Varga has served on the Dominion Command Poppy Committee, Membership Committee, Leadership and Development Committee and was Vice-Chair of the Public Relations Committee for four years. On her election in Edmonton she was appointed Chair of the Dominion Command Public Relations Committee and in 2004 became Chair of the Liaison Committee and a member of the Poppy and Remembrance Committee. On her election in 2006 she became chairman of that Committee and in 2008 was chosen to chair the Sports Committee.
Comrade Varga, who likes all outdoor activity, is a golfer and enjoys camping, sewing and reading. She is also very much involved in the United Way Campaign. She has recently retired from the position of Director of Administration, Carlton Trail Regional College. She is married to Lorne Varga and they have three children.
Comrade Paulette Cook of Belleville, Ont. And Lasalle, Que., is an Associate Member of The Royal Canadian Legion and was elected as a Dominion Vice-President at the 42nd Dominion Convention in Ottawa in 2008.
She joined The Royal Canadian Legion in 1972 and is a member of Branch 82 in Phillipsburg, Que. Having progressed through all the required offices she became the Quebec Command President in 2005. She has served on the Dominion Executive Council since 2006 and has been a member of the Membership Committee. A graduate of Massey-Vanier High School she has also served as a group committee member with the Boy Scouts of Canada for more than 20 years. She was also elected as Branch Legionnaire of the Year in 1984.
Comrade Cook is married to her husband Tom and they have four children, Jennifer, Wanda, Tom and Tim, as well as three grandchildren. She is employed with Verint Video Solutions. In what little spare time she has she enjoys reading, scuba diving and gardening.
Comrade Gordon Moore of Elmira, Ont., joined the Canadian Army where he served with the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. He was elected to be a Dominion Vice-President of The Royal Canadian Legion at the 42nd Dominion Convention in Ottawa in 2008.
He is a member of the Elmira Branch 469 of The Royal Canadian Legion which he joined in 1985. He served on the Branch Executive and all its committees including being the Poppy Committee Chairman. He became Branch President in 1989. From there he went on to Command his Zone and District until he was elected as a Vice-President of Ontario Command in 1999. He became its President in 2005. He has been a member of the Dominion Executive Council since 1999 and has served on its Membership, Public Relations and Poppy and Remembrance Committees.
He has been an avid volunteer aside from his Legion work and has worked with minor soccer and junior and senior softball leagues. He has also volunteered with the Children's Wish Foundation. For the past 30 years he has been employed in sales and marketing and is currently employed with Tri-City Equipment as its marketing and sales manager. He is married to Kathy and they have one daughter, Dawn.
Comrade Erl Kish of Inverary, Ont., joined the Canadian Army (Regular) in 1953 where he served for 30 years with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps and the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. A retired Chief Warrant Officer with the Canadian Forces, he was elected to be a Dominion Vice-President of The Royal Canadian Legion at the 41st Dominion Convention in Calgary, Alta., in June 2006 and was re-elected in 2008 at the 42nd Dominion Convention in Ottawa.
He joined The Royal Canadian Legion in 1963 and transferred his membership to the Limestone Branch in Kingston, Ont., in 1969 where he is now a Life Member. Since joining the Legion Comrade Kish has served at all levels of the organization in Ontario and was the President of Ontario Command from 2003 until 2005. He has served on the Sports and Membership Committees at the Dominion Command level and has served on the Dominion Executive Council since 1997. He was the Chairman of the Membership Committee at Dominion Command and is now Chairman of the Public Relations Committee.
Comrade Kish also served on the Veterans Advisory Committee of the board at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, Ont., for six years and is a member of the board for Legion Villa, a seniors housing project in Kingston. He also holds the Legion's highest honour, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Palm Leaf signifying a second award. His life partner is Sheila and he has six children.
Comrade Michael Cook, the son of a World War II veteran, resides in Cloverdale, B.C. He is an associate member of # 6 Cloverdale Branch of British Columbia/Yukon Command of The Royal Canadian Legion. He was elected to the position of Dominion Treasurer at the 38th Dominion Convention in Halifax, N.S. in June 2000, re-elected at the June 2002 Convention in Edmonton, Alta., elected for a third term at the London, Ont., Convention in 2004, re-elected for a fourth term at the 41st Dominion Convention in Calgary, Alta., in June 2006 and was again re-elected in Ottawa in 2008.
A former President of his branch, he has risen through the ranks of the former Pacific Command to become its President and a member of the Legion’s Dominion Executive Council. His nine years of service at the Dominion level includes time on the 60th Anniversary, Ways and Means, Constitution and Laws and Finance Committees.
Comrade Cook has received the Legion’s Certificate of Merit and its highest honour, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Palm Leaf to that medal signifying a second award in 2001. He is a retired independent business man whose volunteer activities have included service as the Chairman of the City of Surrey Parks and Recreation, and President of the Cloverdale Board of Trade. He enjoys golfing in his spare time. He and his wife Judy have two children and two grandchildren.
Comrade Tom Irvine was elected to the position of Chairman Dominion Command at the 40th Dominion Convention in London, Ont. in June 2004, was re-elected to the position at the 41st Dominion Convention in Calgary, Alta., in June 2006 and was again re-elected in Ottawa in 2008. He is from Montreal, Que. and is a member of the Hemmingford Branch #244 in Quebec Command.
Comrade Irvine is retired from TD Canada Trust and served more than 23 years with the Third Battalion of The Black Watch Royal Highland Regiment of Canada in his home town of Montreal. While in the service he saw active duty in the Middle East and earned the Canadian Forces Decoration. During his 20 years with The Royal Canadian Legion he has served as a Sergeant-at-Arms, Second Vice-President and two years as President of Quebec Command Branch # 196 in Ormstown, Que. He has also served as a Vice President, Vice-Chairman and three terms as the Chairman for Quebec Command.
Comrade Irvine is a seven-time Past Master of the Argyle Elgin Lodge #7 and a Past District Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Quebec A. F. and A. M. He enjoys playing golf and darts and is an avid cyclist. He is married to Paulette Cook of Bedford, Que., also a legionnaire, and they have four children.
July 2008
Jack Frost
Immediate Past Dominion
President
The Royal Canadian Legion
Comrade Jack Frost joined The Royal Canadian Legion as an Associate Member of Ontario’s Port Elgin Branch # 340 in 1976 and is a life member of the branch. In June 2002 he was elected as a Dominion Vice-President at the 39th Dominion Convention held in Edmonton, Alta. He was elected as a Dominion First Vice-President at the 40th Dominion Convention in London, Ont., in 2004 and was acclaimed as Dominion President at the 41st Dominion Convention in Calgary, Alta., in June 2006.
Comrade Frost was first elected to the executive of the Port Elgin Branch in 1980 and served in several capacities including Branch President. He then moved on to become a Zone Commander, a District Commander, a Provincial Command Vice-President and eventually the President of Ontario Command. In 2004 he received the Legion’s highest award, the Meritorious Service Medal and he was also awarded the Minister of Veteran Affairs Commendation in 2007.
A member of the Legion’s Dominion Executive Council for ten years, Comrade Frost has served on the Membership, Leadership, Development and Youth, Poppy and Remembrance, Sports, Veterans Service and Seniors and RCEL Committees.
Comrade Frost, who enjoys all outdoor activity and photography, is a retired Quality Assurance Engineer for Ontario Hydro. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge and plays golf regularly with his wife Lynn. They have two children and five grandchildren.
The third generation of his family to serve in the military, Brad joined the Canadian Forces in 1975 under the Officer Cadet Training Program. He was posted to the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise`s), in Petawawa, Ontario, upon completion of the Armour Officer training.
Regimental duty saw Brad serve in Canada, Germany and on a United Nations tour in Cyprus. Intermixed with his regimental duty, Brad served as an instructor at the Armour School of the Combat Arms Centre in Gagetown, New Brunswick. He obtained his university degree from the University of Manitoba and completed the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College (Toronto) after returning from a three year tour in Lahr, Germany. Brad was subsequently posted to the National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa where he served on the National Joint Plans staff for three years, completed one year as the Armour Officer Career Manager and nearly two years in the Directorate of Defence Analysis.
Brad retired from the Canadian Forces in 1998 at the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel when he joined Dominion Command of The Royal Canadian Legion as an Administrative Officer. Five years later, he became the Director, Administration. Brad was part of the organizing committee for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Director of the National Remembrance Day Ceremony and organized the Dominion Conventions. Brad was appointed to his current position as the Dominion Secretary in August 2009.
Brad and his wife Thérèse are proud to call Ottawa their home after their nomadic life. Their two sons, Jonathan and Erik, are graduates from the University of Ottawa and are now serving members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Family life has always been important to the Whites including the many hours in hockey arenas, baseball fields and soccer pitches. The entire family enjoys an occasional friendly golf game and family get togethers.
