Testimonial Dinner Honouring Major General Bruce Jarvis Legge

The first event of the 1978-1979 Empire Club season, that the membership participated in, was held on Friday, June 23, 1978. The event was a testimonial dinner held in the Concert Hall of the Royal York Hotel. The guest of honour was Major General Bruce Legge. The dinner was organized to recognize General Legge's forty years of continuous service in the Canadian Armed Forces and also his many community activities, including the Presidency of the Empire Club and his current chairmanship of the Empire Club Foundation. The dinner was attended by over eight hundred friends of Bruce Legge and the highlight of the evening was the presentation of an inscribed ceremonial General Officer's sword to the guest of honour by the Minister of National Defence, Lieutenant Colonel the Honourable Barnett Danson.

The program of the evening was as follows:

PROGRAM

8 o'clock p. m. Arrival of Her Honour The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

Vice-Regal Salute

GRACE Major The Reverend Father Richard J. Newsham, C.D.

DINNER

THE QUEEN Proposed by Her Honour The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

The Royal Anthem

APPRECIATIONS

The Community and the Church Right Reverend Lewis S. Garnsworthy, B.A., D. D. Bishop of The Anglican Diocese of Toronto

The Law H. Allan Leal, Esquire, Q.C, LL.D. Deputy Attorney General and Former President of The Empire Club of Canada

The Regiment Lieutenant Colonel John H. C. Clarry, M.B.E., E.D., C.D., Q.C. National President, Canadian Forces Logistics Association

The Empire Club of Canada

Sydney Hermant, Esquire President, Imperial Optical Company Ltd. and Former President of The Empire Club of Canada

The Soldier and Patriot Lieutenant Colonel The Honourable Barnett J. Danson, P.C., MP Minister of National Defence

RESPONSE Major General Bruce J. Legge

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Skirmishers of the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada attended by kind permission of the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel W. S. Wilson, C. D.

The Band of The Royal Regiment of Canada, under the direction of Captain G. Falconi, and The Pioneers of The Royal Regiment of Canada attended by kind permission of the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel G.S. Thomson, C.D.

Piper and Lance Bearers of 25 Toronto Service Battalion attended by kind permission of the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel A. A. Amos, C. D.

The program also contained the following tribute to General Legge:

Major General Legge's military career started forty years ago when he joined the University of Toronto Canadian Officer Training Corps in 1938. Since then he has served continuously in all ranks from Officer Cadet to Major General.

During World War 11 he served overseas in various command and staff appointments. Returning to Canada at war's end, he served in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps and from 1958 to 1962 commanded 5 Column RCASC. After various senior staff appointments, he was named the first Commanding Officer of the newly created 1st Toronto Service Battalion in 1965. Following this command, he was appointed Adviser to the Commander of Central Ontario Region, formerly Central Command.

In 1970, when Central Militia Area was created, Bruce Legge was promoted Brigadier General to become the Area Commander. He commanded the Area for three years and was then appointed the Adviser to the Commander Mobile Command. In 1973 he was appointed the Major General Reserves, a position he served with great distinction until earlier this year.

Bruce Legge has been one of the foremost spokesmen of the Armed Forces and particularly for the Reserves. He was the Vice-Chairman of the Suttie Commission on the reorganization of the Militia, National President of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps Association, and Chairman of the Conference of Defence Associations. Also, he was instrumental in the creation of the Canadian Armed Forces Logistics Association.

One of General Legge's major involvements has been with the Inter-allied Confederation of Reserve Officers of NATO (CIOR). He has represented Canada at the bi-annual meetings of the Confederation since 1965. In August next, he will become the Secretary-General of the Confederation, the first Canadian to hold this appointment. For his services to CIOR in 1974 he was invested, in Oslo, Knight of the Ordre Souverain et Militaire au Temple de Jerusalem.

General Legge has had a variety of careers in law, the military, and private and public charities. For many years he advocated the rights of Canadian veterans before the Canadian Pension Commission. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Church of the Good Samaritan, a half-way house for distressed men in downtown Toronto, and was the President of the Good Neighbours' Club, a day-care centre for aged and unemployable men. For this latter service to the community, he was given the Award of Merit of the City of Toronto.

Internationally, General Legge has been a member of Rehabilitation International and a President of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (the Compensation Boards of the English-speaking world).

Nationally, he has been the President and Chairman of the Board of the Canada Safety Council, the President of The Empire Club of Canada, and the President and Honorary President of the Royal Canadian Military Institute. Currently, he is the President of the Royal Commonwealth Society.

In his professional capacity, he has been the President of the Medico-Legal Society of Toronto, the President of the Canadian Association of Workmen's Compensation Boards, and a member of the National Executive of the Canadian Bar Association.

Bruce Legge is acknowledged as one of our country's finest speakers, and has lectured extensively in Canada, the United States, and abroad.

General Legge is married with three children. He practises law in Toronto with his wife Laura as a partner in the firm of Legge & Legge. Bruce Legge is the holder of the Efficiency Decoration and the Canadian Forces Decoration. He is a Commander of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and on May 31 he was invested a Commander of the Order of Military Merit by the Governor General.

We are proud to salute Bruce Legge, not for the length but for the excellence of his service to Queen and Canada.