Sechelt’s Louis Legal spent his career analyzing weather patterns but since retiring 20 years ago the meteorologist has been helping people weather tax season and other administrative challenges. On Sept. 6 his efforts were rewarded in Victoria at Government House where he was presented with the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers.
B.C. Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin presented the silver medals to Legal and 40 other British Columbians on behalf of Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada.
“I thought it was a prank call at first,” said Legal, who received a phone call in May from the Governor General’s office in Ottawa notifying him he had been chosen to receive the official Canadian honour. “I didn’t believe it.”
The medal recognizes “exceptional volunteer achievements of Canadians from across the country in a wide range of fields,” according to a release from the office of the Lieutenant Governor.
Legal retired from his work for Environment Canada and moved to the Coast in the late ’90s after working in Winnipeg, Goose Bay, Comox, Vancouver and West Germany. His interest in climate and the environment drew him to the nascent Sunshine Coast Clean Air Society. He is now its longest serving board member. He has also taught at Sunshine Coast Elder College and has written for the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association.
Legal’s volunteer efforts extend to senior care, too. He has served as a peer counsellor with Vancouver Coastal Health for 18 years, helping seniors fill out forms, apply for government funding, as well as assist with their wills.
Low-income residents have also benefitted from Legal’s volunteer efforts. He has served as the local coordinator for the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program on the Coast for 20 years. The volunteer-run program gives low-income households free assistance filing income tax forms and is offered in Sechelt, Gibsons and Pender Harbour.
“I don’t deserve all the credit. We have a group of volunteers and they do most of the work,” said Legal of the tax service. The program assists about 1,000 people annually, with 12 volunteers donating about 500 hours to do it.
Legal began volunteering for the program “by accident” after responding to an advertisement in the newspaper after moving to the Coast. “It’s fairly natural for someone with a math and science background” to help with taxes, Legal said. “I’ve been doing taxes ever since,” he said, averaging about 100 returns per year, including his own. “Mine are relatively simple.”
