A Montreal man who’s been selling poppies at the Vendôme metro station for two decades says he was recently hassled by security guards.
The 90-year-old Carl Andersen is a Canadian Forces veteran who volunteers his early November mornings raising money for the Royal Canadian Legion.
Recently, he ran into a bit of an obstacle. Andersen says last week two Société de transport de Montréal (STM) transit agency security officers asked him if he had permission to sell poppies at Vendôme.
“I said, I’ve been doing it for 20 years, I’ve never had to ask permission. He said, ‘well, we’re trying to get rid of people asking for money in the subway,’” Andersen recounted to Global News.
Andersen said it’s the first time he’s ever been hassled by security. He said after consulting with their supervisors, the officers told him they would “tolerate” his presence.
“I felt a little harassed,” he said. “The thing is, I didn’t like the word ‘tolerate,’ which meant that they could change that toleration at any moment.”
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The STM told Global News it is permitted to solicit donations outside the paid zone.
“If Mr. Andersen does not solicit customers, but rather waits for customers to come to him and it is considered a donation, there should not be a problem, as long as he complies with the other rules concerning traffic flow, civic conduct, etc,” STM spokesperson Amelie Regis said in an emailed statement.
He hasn’t had any trouble since, and the people he was pinning poppies on Tuesday appeared happy to see him, according to Global News staff.
Some buy from him year after year, pausing their commutes for a warm greeting and a story.
“There are veterans that are in real need, and for them, this is why we do it,” he said.
Charity is a vital part of who Andersen is. It’s something the Canadian Forces veteran says he learned from his mom. “My mother was very giving and we weren’t brought up with a hell of a lot of bucks,” he said.
Andersen says he lied about his age to join the forces at 15. He served in Canada during the tail end of the Korean War. He claims eventually his lie was discovered, and he was honourably discharged.
Andersen used to be a big runner. He says he’s completed 97 marathons in his life, and he’s done more fundraising runs than he can count. He’s raised money for breast cancer research, the Terry Fox Foundation and the War Amps, among others.
“I’m close to, if not over, a million dollars in charity done through my running,” he said.
Andersen said he hopes to keep volunteering for the Legion at Vendôme until he’s at least 100.
