# New memorial envisioned to honour Canada's war dead



## George Wallace (4 Jan 2014)

Interesting news.  A Toronto businessman has envisioned a memorial to honour Canada's war dead, to be built in Cape Breton along the Cabot Trail in the National Park.  Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.


LINK



> thestar.com
> 
> Saturday, January 4, 2014
> 12:36 AM EST
> ...



History in the making.  Drawing at LINK gives you a concept of what the memorial may look like.


----------



## q_1966 (4 Jan 2014)

Looks like the memorial will be beautiful. BZ.


----------



## FormerHorseGuard (4 Jan 2014)

That  would be very cool to go and see. It wouldbe on my bucket list to see when I finally make it to the east coast.


----------



## George Wallace (11 Mar 2014)

UPDATE

Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

LINK



> Sun News
> 
> 1:52 pm, March 10th, 2014
> 
> ...


----------



## Fishbone Jones (11 Mar 2014)

On the face of it, I believe today's soldiers are entitled to the same adoration or remembrence as all past servicemen. They are entitled to the same as any other war. In Windsor, the are making a Afgan Memeorial, but it will, for some strange reason, be across town from every other war memorial we have here (Dieppe Park).

I'm sorry to previous Vets that our war was not as big as theirs, as bloody or as devestating to the nation.

We did not pick our war(s) But went when called.

Memorials now days, end mostly with the after addition of Korea. They include no Peacekeeping or the combat we've been in.

Do we really deserve less than other soldiers in Canada have beeen given? I'm not dead, but lots of my friends are.

There comes a point when the self effaciating Canadian is passe and needs to shout from the rooftops what they think is righteous and proper.

I am not ashamed of my service, nor do I think I should be enbarressed to speak of it.

I think it's time we demanded our do and proclaimed our service as equal to, in our commitment, to previous Canadian soldiers.


----------



## Tibbson (11 Mar 2014)

recceguy said:
			
		

> On the face of it, I believe today's soldiers are entitled to the same adoration or remembrance as all past servicemen. They are entitled to the same as any other war. In Windsor, the are making a Afgan Memorial, but it will, for some strange reason, be across town from every other war memorial we have here (Dieppe Park).
> 
> I'm sorry to previous Vets that our war was not as big as theirs, as bloody or as devastating to the nation.
> 
> ...



 :cdnsalute:  Well put!!


----------



## OldTanker (12 Mar 2014)

This might finally get me to drive the Cabot Trail (and shame on me for not doing it already). But it sounds like a great idea and I think the symbolism is right on. If you've been to Vimy, you will understand why.


----------



## Journeyman (12 Mar 2014)

OldTanker said:
			
		

> .....drive the Cabot Trail.....


Motorcycle. Autumn leaves.   :nod:


----------



## Scott (12 Mar 2014)

Journeyman said:
			
		

> Motorcycle. Autumn leaves.   :nod:



Glen Breton grog. Big Spruce beer. Doryman tavern.


----------



## The Bread Guy (12 Mar 2014)

I've got *ZERO* problem with acknowledging, recognizing, remembering and applauding the service and the sacrifices, no matter where/when the service/sacrifice was made.

I'm curious to hear from folks here about "memorial staffing," for the want of a better term - how might one "divvy up" military resources on Remembrance Day as new monuments go up?

In Thunder Bay, for example, there's a 3-way split now (cenotaph in north side, cenotaph in south side and cenotaph on reserve), with a smaller memorial monument near one cenotaph, and the potential for a new memorial to be built elsewhere.  This leads to division of effort (and, in the case of smaller memorials, some saying "hey, why are the troops _there_, and not here?".  

In a perfect world, if there's more than one monument in one community/area, one could take turns year to year.  That said, given the sensitivity and history of these things, it may be hard to make that happen.

I know this isn't going to be a tidal-wave level of issue, dealing with new monuments going up in every grid square, but I don't think it's going to be zero, either.


----------



## Journeyman (12 Mar 2014)

Scott said:
			
		

> Doryman tavern.


...parking bike for the night.   ;D


----------



## Jarnhamar (12 Mar 2014)

Why exactly are people trying to stop this memorial?


My vote for a memorial would be to have a tank on the coast with it's cannon pointing east.


----------



## Tibbson (12 Mar 2014)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> I've got *ZERO* problem with acknowledging, recognizing, remembering and applauding the service and the sacrifices, no matter where/when the service/sacrifice was made.
> 
> I'm curious to hear from folks here about "memorial staffing," for the want of a better term - how might one "divvy up" military resources on Remembrance Day as new monuments go up?
> 
> ...



I thought that in most areas the services were organized by Legions and other groups already and that CAF participation or representation was at the members discretion for the most part?  Of course, there are some formed parades but I can't remember the last time I was on a formed parade for Remembrance Day.  Perhaps while on my TQ5 in Borden back in 1990.  In the last 20+ years it seems we've always been told to go where we wanted but we were expected to go somewhere in DEU to represent the CAF.  With the number of monuments and memorials in this country, many in communities with multiple monuments owing to amalgamation of smaller communities, we could never cover them all anyway.


----------



## McG (10 Apr 2014)

Looks like someone else wants to do this too, but in a different location.  It is so nice of him to offer funds from various regimental and branch associations to build another statue for the NCR.


> Statue would give Parliament daily reminder of war's consequences: Dallaire
> Winnipeg Free Press
> Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press
> 09 April 2014
> ...


http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/parliament-needs-daily-reminder-of-the-consequences-of-war-dallaire-254598521.html


----------



## McG (23 Jun 2015)

Lots of opposition to this on CBC over the past month.  If you believe the reports, the opposition includes veterans, conservationists, academics and the locals.



> *Cape Breton Highlands war memorial opposed by new group*
> 10-storey Mother Canada statue prompts call for more consultation from Friends of Green Cove
> CBC News
> 02 Jun 2015
> ...


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/cape-breton-highlands-war-memorial-opposed-by-new-group-1.3096705



> *Mother Canada statue wrong way to remember, say history professors*
> Opposition from history professors comes on the heels of supportive rally at Green Cove
> Diane Paquette, CBC News
> 16 Jun 2015
> ...


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/mother-canada-statue-wrong-way-to-remember-say-history-professors-1.3114581



> *Mother Canada project given $100K Parks Canada grant*
> Friends of Green Cove say Parks Canada's impartiality now in question
> CBC News
> 22 Jun 2015
> ...


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/mother-canada-project-given-100k-parks-canada-grant-1.3122741


----------



## Michael OLeary (23 Jun 2015)

If really think they can raise 30-million(+) and want it to support a national "never forgotten" memorial project, they could dedicate a trust that uses its generated interest to provide grants for the care and maintenance of existing memorials across the country. But that wouldn't let a self-serving corporation have a walkway or parking lot named after itself with a flashy corporate logo in the brickwork.


----------



## The Bread Guy (1 Jul 2015)

Let the brawling between memorial groups continue!


> The chairman of the Vimy Foundation wants the organizers behind the proposed war memorial on Cape Breton to stop referring to their massive project as Mother Canada, calling it “disrespectful and unsavoury.”
> 
> But that’s unlikely to happen. Christopher Sweeney said the lawyer representing the Never Forgotten National Memorial (NFNM), which is planned for a beautiful cove on the island’s east coast, told his charitable foundation to “basically stuff it.”
> 
> ...


----------



## The Bread Guy (6 Feb 2016)

Mother Canada monument firing alright, monument -- STOPS!  At least at the proposed site, anyway ... This, from Parks Canada:


> Parks Canada has reviewed the entire Never Forgotten National Memorial initiative as well as the key elements and timelines within the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that guides this complex proposal.
> 
> Based on that review, Parks Canada has concluded that there are too many key elements that remain outstanding for the project to be achieved by the planned date of July 1, 2017, including the availability of funds to the Foundation, agreement on the structuring of the funding for construction and maintenance, and a definitive final design plan.
> 
> ...



More from The Canadian Press:


> ...  Meg Stokes of the Never Forgotten National Memorial Foundation said Friday the group is disappointed and shocked. Stokes suggested that the statue, which had support in the former Conservative government, had become a political pawn.
> 
> "We are heartbroken that our project has fallen victim to politics and deeply saddened that so many people in Cape Breton ΓÇª were treated in this shocking manner by Parks Canada," said Stokes in a statement.
> 
> ...


----------



## jollyjacktar (6 Feb 2016)

It doesn't have a great deal of support from the folks in NS.  They were rubbing everyone's fur the wrong way.


----------



## Scott (6 Feb 2016)

Personally, I think it was a piss poor spot to have chosen, and a potential piss poor precedent to set for land use in that park.

I am happy with the outcome.


----------



## cupper (6 Feb 2016)

Seems to me that the backers didn't think things through, and the plans kept growing without consideration for the technical issues.

*Mother Canada statue not feasible for Green Cove war memorial, says firm*
*Toronto-based firm hired to assess plans of Never Forgotten War Memorial and pulled out of project in 2012*

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/landinc-on-mother-canada-statue-1.3430983



> The company hired to assess the Never Forgotten War Memorial says an enormous statue planned for Green Cove, Cape Breton, isn't any more feasible than it was when the company pulled out of the project four years ago.
> 
> LANDinc, a Toronto-based landscape architecture firm, is only now speaking publicly about its involvement because Friends of Green Cove, a group opposed to the Mother Canada statue, asked the company to share what it learned before leaving the project in 2012.
> 
> ...


----------

