Salvation Army Divisional Commander Maj. Gilbert St. Onge is to leave the Island next month following the termination of his posting here.

He has been reassigned to Quebec where he is due to take charge of the Canadian province's Salvation Army branch on June 30.

News of the transfer comes just weeks after Maj. St. Onge moved to sever links with the anti-gay Christian Coalition.

The Army hit controversy by participating in one of the group's marches on Parliament in February to protest passage of a Bill to legalise gay sex.

But Maj. St. Onge and other Army officials, confirming the transfer yesterday, said it had nothing to do with the march controversy.

"It has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on his re-appointment,'' chairman of the Army's local Advisory Board Mr. Cyril Rance said.

"We will be awfully sorry to see him go. But this is a promotion for him. He will be taking charge of a much larger territory.'' The French-speaking Salvationist was needed in Quebec due to the sudden transfer of that branch's divisional commander to Belgium.

Maj. St. Onge said he would liked to have stayed here a few more years, describing his three-year term here as an "average'' length for a posting.

A public relations officer at Army headquarters in Toronto said it was "coincidental'' that Maj. St. Onge's transfer came so soon following the controversy over gay rights.

"We do not have a lot of personnel who speak French and Maj. St. Onge has French language capabilities,'' she noted.

Mr. Rance said he expected to learn who Maj. St. Onge's replacement would be within the next ten days.

Maj. St. Onge was first told he was being re-assigned to Quebec several weeks ago, he said.

Maj. St. Onge said he would liked to have stayed in Bermuda to see the fruition of several projects he had helped get off the ground including plans for a youth camp, a halfway house for ex-inmates, and expanding the Army's social services to reach all needy Bermudians.

"(Serving as divisional commander) is usually a four-year term,'' he conceded. "But I was needed in Quebec -- where I come from -- to set up strategic restructuring of the whole division.'' Maj. St. Onge came to Bermuda as divisional secretary and was appointed divisional commander after two years.

He felt an important accomplishment was the extension of the services of the Harbour Light shelter to include a work therapy programme employing the homeless in such jobs as furniture repair.

However, he did not look back on his term as a list of accomplishments.

"We are here to serve. The whole goal is to serve people and if I was able to brighten one life that's significant,'' he said.

The Army earlier this month launched its annual Red Shield Appeal, setting a $254,000 target to help fund its welfare programmes.

As of yesterday, $103,000 had been raised, but Army officials said the Appeal had started a week later than normal and still had another week to go.

Several residents had written letters to The Royal Gazette saying they would no longer financially support the Army because of its ties with the Coalition, called "fanatical'' by the Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness, after it urged a boycott of a local AIDS charity.

But Maj. St. Onge said he felt the letters would only have "a limited effect'' on the Army's fundraising.

"When people take that attitude, they are really saying they are going to stop helping the public.'' The letters stemmed from the Army's taking part in an anti-gay march on Parliament in mid-February to halt passage of the Stubbs Bill (passed by the Senate last week).

At the time, The Royal Gazette reported that by taking part the Army had gone against policy.

As a rule, the Army did not take part in political marches, a spokesman from the Army's Toronto headquarters said.

On May 6, after the Coalition said the Allan Vincent Smith Foundation charity was not worthy of support because of links with an alleged pro-gay group, Maj.

St. Onge attempted to set the record straight.

The Army's "first and only involvement with the Coalition was taking part in its initial march on Parliament,'' he said in a statement. And the Army considered the action nothing more than a "prayer walk'' to support Government during "a time of tough decision making.''