OTTAWA

A handful of university students have hopped aboard the left-wing Rideau Institute's "white poppy" campaign for Remembrance Day, promoting their pacifist ideology by piggybacking on the Royal Canadian Legion's red poppy campaign.

"Young people don't want to celebrate war," Celyn Dufay of the University of Ottawa said. "We want to work for peace."

With the imposing National War Memorial in the background, Dufay unveiled a pin Monday he and a gaggle of activists will distribute through the week.

The pin puts the Rideau Institute's "I Remember for Peace" slogan on a white poppy - a controversial symbol that has earned the ire of the Royal Canadian Legion in the past.

The legion's Bill Maxwell, secretary of the poppy remembrance committee, said Dufay and the Rideau Institute have misunderstood Remembrance Day symbols.

"The red poppy is a symbol of sacrifice," Maxwell said. "It's not a glorification of war."

Maxwell also said Canadians overwhelmingly support the red poppy, with 18 million of them being worn this year.

Dufay hopes to distribute about 2,500 white poppy pins, including at the national Remembrance Day ceremony next week.

Maxwell said Dufay's move won't go over well with Canadian veterans.

"I don't think they'd be very pleased," he said. "I think they may even take it personally. I'm sure they would."

Even if the pin offends veterans, Dufay said he'll continue to distribute it.

"We can't account for other people's feelings, however, no one has a monopoly over Remembrance Day," he said.