Legion announces name of new Grand President

Vice-Admiral (Retired) Larry Murray of Stratford, Ont., will take over the honorary position of Grand President of The Royal Canadian Legion this summer. He will be installed in the position on Wednesday, 16 June, during ceremonies at the Legion’s 43rd Dominion Convention to be held in Winnipeg. He replaces Lieutenant-General (Retired) Charles H. Belzile who has been in the position since 2001.

We are extremely pleased and honoured that Vice-Admiral Murray has accepted this position,” said Dominion President Wilf Edmond of Donkin, N.S. “We in the Legion know that he will carry out his duties in an exemplary manner just as he did in the service.”

He will be the first naval officer to hold the honorary position of Grand President of The Royal Canadian Legion since its formation in 1926.

Vice-Admiral (Retired) Larry Murray, C.M.M., C.D.

Larry Murray was born in Stratford, Ontario on June 6, 1947, and enrolled in the Royal Canadian Navy in 1964.  Following graduation from Carleton University in Ottawa, he served at sea in a variety of ships based in Halifax, N.S., and Esquimalt, B.C. While commanding HMCS Iroquois, he took part in the successful rescue of the crew of the foundering freighter Ho Ming Number 5 in a gale south of Newfoundland for which several crew members received medals for bravery or awards and HMCS Iroquois received the Canadian Forces Unit Commendation.

Shore appointments included senior staff officer plans, as well as deputy chief of staff for personnel and training in Maritime Command Headquarters and director general, maritime doctrine and operations in National Defence Headquarters. In 1991 he was promoted rear-admiral and assumed the duties of associate deputy minister for policy and communications.  He was promoted to vice-admiral and appointed deputy chief of the defence staff in early 1993, commanded Maritime Command in 1994, and became the vice-chief of the defence staff in 1995. Vice-Admiral Murray assumed the additional duties of acting chief of the defence staff in 1996.

After retirement from the Canadian Forces in 1997 he joined the public service as associate deputy minister of Fisheries and Oceans, was appointed deputy minister of Veterans Affairs Canada in 1999 and was subsequently appointed deputy minister of Fisheries and Oceans in 2003. He retired from the public service in 2007.  

Mr. Murray was invested as an Officer of the Order of Military Merit in 1983 and was promoted Commander 10 years later.  He received the Vimy Award and in 2001 he was invested in the Order of St. John.  He served in the honorary position of Colonel Commandant of the Chaplain Branch of the CF for five years and was awarded the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation for his contribution to the care and well-being of veterans and to the remembrance of their service and sacrifice.

Mr. Murray was a member of the Task Force on Governance and Cultural Change in the RCMP, a Trudeau Foundation Mentor and is currently the Chair of the Veterans Ombudsman Advisory Committee and serves as President of the Nova Scotia Mainland Division of the Navy League of Canada. He is also a Member of the National Defence Audit Committee and Chair of the Privy Council Audit Committee.

For further information please contact Bruce Poulin at Dominion Command, The Royal Canadian Legion, at (613) 591-3335 ext. 241 or by cell at (613) 292-8760.

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