Marois backtracks on poppy

MONTREAL—The premier of Quebec will stop wearing a Fleur-de-lis pin inside the red poppy on her lapel after some complaints from veterans.
A spokeswoman for Premier Pauline Marois said she wasn’t trying to offend anyone by wearing the Quebec emblem inside the symbol synonymous with Remembrance Day.

The sudden sartorial reversal comes after complaints from a veterans’ group.
The Royal Canadian Legion said some of its members were insulted that Marois stuck the Quebec symbol inside the poppy she’d been wearing in the legislature this week.
Margot Arsenault, the Legion’s provincial president, earlier today accused the Parti Quebecois premier of playing politics.
She even sent a letter to the premier saying it’s not proper to wear the poppy with a pin inside.
“I find it’s very political and right now the veterans are very, very, very upset because they fought for Canada, not just for Quebec,” Arsenault stressed.
“We are in Canada,” she said. “If she wants to wear the poppy, she should just wear it like it is.
“The poppy is the Royal Canadian Legion symbol and nothing is to be worn inside like a pin—whether it’s the Canadian flag or anything,” noted Arsenault, whose father was a veteran.
“We’re not supposed to.”
Arsenault said she received about 15 phone calls and about a dozen e-mails yesterday from veterans who complained the premier’s gesture was not acceptable.