Yellowknife (Nov 10/06) - The president of the Yellowknife Legion doesn't agree with a council committee decision not to grant free parking to people with veteran license plates during the month of November.

"I'm a little disappointed," said Lloyd Lush, president of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 164. "I don't think it's too much to ask for. These people are serving or have served our country."

On Monday, council committee members recommended that council doesn't pass a motion to exempt people with a veteran license plate from feeding parking meters during the month of November.

The council committee, made up of all eight council members, comes together before every city council meeting to discuss and make recommendations on proposals that will be put forth at the council meetings.

"Committees make recommendations, they don't make decisions," said Mayor Gordon Van Tighem. "The decision could be made at council as early as Tuesday.

Seven of the eight council members agreed not to recommend passing the motion.

The eighth, councillor Bob Brooks, did not vote because he was once in the military. Brooks was not in the room when the vote took place.

"I'm not very happy with the decision," he said. "Veterans deserve a lot more recognition in this country."

Councillor Dave McCann said he was wary to recommend the decision because of the criteria for who could be considered a veteran.

"The definition of veteran is too broad," he said. "It states anyone involved in the military or NATO for three years are veterans and not just people who were involved in Korea and other wars."

Coun. Mark Heyck said he decided not to recommend the motion due to a number of points.

"We had a problem with giving a free pass for the car and not the person. This could mean that anyone driving the car could use the pass."

Also, he had a problem with not all veterans owning a veteran's plate.

"There are only about two dozen of these plates across the territories, but there may be a lot more people who are considered veterans," he said.

"It just doesn't seem fair to all veterans."

Terry Banks, a member of the Legion, sees the other side to Heyck's point.

"To have served your country and to be denied such a small thing- I mean, come on," he said. "How many veteran plates are out there? It's not like there are millions."

McCann pointed out that many of the people in the city with these plates are seniors, and the city has a bylaw in place to give seniors free parking.

That's not the point, said Lush.

"It's not about free parking. It's about showing veterans we appreciate what they have done."

For a person to be eligible for a special veteran plate, they must have served during the two World Wars, Korean or any number of NATO missions.