Poppies on Hani Tawfilis’s election signs have landed the Mississauga-Erin Mills Conservative candidate in hot water with a local legion.

The red poppy, which is used as part of Remembrance Day ceremonies to honour veterans and fallen soldiers, cannot be used for promotional purposes without permission from the Royal Canadian Legion.

Streetsville Legion president Judy McNutt called the inclusion of poppies in election signs an example of “uneducated decision-making.”

“The poppy represents the sacrifices veterans made to protect our freedom,” she said in an email. “We received complaints from members and veterans and immediately acted on having them removed.”

In an email, Tawfilis said he and his campaign team were unaware that the legion owned the poppy and apologized for using it.

“Supporting our veterans and military heroes is something very personally important to myself,” he said. “I wanted to show the people of Mississauga-Erin Mills that I would (be a) champion for our veterans on Parliament Hill.”

Tawfilis added that once he and his team learned they couldn’t use the symbol, “we immediately removed all the poppies from our signs.”

As of 5 p.m. on Oct. 20, Tawfilis signs with poppies were still in place in Mississauga-Erin Mills.