Image: Office of MP Brad Vis / MP Brad Vis, representing Agassiz, Harrison Hot Springs, and Mission in Parliament, is denouncing the removal of national icon Terry Fox from the newly designed Canadian passports. Vis says Fox was a national hero and should remain in Canadian passports. He also criticized the removal of imagery from the Vimy monument in France, which was built to commemorate the Canadian troops who stormed the ridge and helped turn the tide in the First World War.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Removal of Terry Fox from passports

MP Brad Vis denounces removal of Terry Fox from new Canadian passports

May 11, 2023 | 10:47 AM

MISSION — He’s a revered national hero by Canadians of all political stripes and persuasions for his relentless determination to raise money for cancer victims during his Marathon of Hope in 1980.

But area elected officials, including MP Brad Vis representing Agassiz and Mission in Parliament, aren’t taking too kindly to the removal of Terry Fox from the newly designed Canadian passports that were unveiled on Wednesday.

“I am extremely disappointed to hear of the government’s decision to remove Terry Fox, among other iconic Canadians and landmarks, from their new version of the Canadian passport,” Vis wrote on Twitter Thursday morning (May 11). “Terry Fox is someone who, regardless of their political leanings, all Canadians cherish and remember as a hero. He should continue to be honoured inside of the document that Canadians use to travel the world.”

In Fox’s hometown, Port Coquitlam mayor Brad West responded with similar disappointment at the icon’s removal from the redesigned passport.

“I’m the Mayor of Terry Fox’s hometown. Whoever made the decision to remove Terry Fox from Canadian passports needs to give their head a shake. Our country needs more Terry Fox, not less,” West wrote on Twitter Wednesday, May 10.

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Vis invited his constituents to sponsor a petition on the removal of Fox by emailing his office: brad.vis@parl.gc.ca.

“Canadians are proud to carry passports internationally that honour national heroes like Terry Fox and our veterans who fought in the First World War,” Vis said. “The removal of a Canadian icon and hero like Terry Fox, who is fondly remembered and honoured by all Canadians for his extraordinary courage in his battle with cancer, is wrong. Canada has a proud history of bravery and courage, which should be highlighted in our passport. The new passport design was very clearly designed with little to no input from ordinary Canadians who are proud of figures like Terry Fox and Nellie McClung, who famously fought for women’s right to vote.”

Vis said the new passports also removes imagery of iconic landmarks like the Vimy monument in France, which was constructed as a tribute to the Canadian troops who stormed the ridge and helped turn the tide of the First World War.

by Mike Vanden Bosch

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MP Brad Vis denounces removal of Terry Fox from new Canadian passports

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