August 10, 2007 Mitch Potter EUROPE BUREAU
LONDON–Canadian officials are scrambling to find a way to restore and maintain the foremost Canadian war memorial in Britain, whose future has been left uncertain by the collapsing fortunes of disgraced media mogul Conrad Black.
Unveiled amid fanfare by the Queen 13 years ago, the granite-and-bronze Canada Memorial in the shadow of Buckingham Palace is the pre-eminent testament to Canada's immense contributions to Britain in two world wars.
It is testament also to the complex character of Black himself, who lobbied tenaciously for the memorial's construction only to later surrender his Canadian citizenship in order to gain a British peerage.
But today the memorial – created by late Quebec artist Pierre Granche after a juried competition presided over by Black – is at risk due to the absence of funds to maintain the installation, which was built replete with a high-maintenance system of pumps and fountains in London's Green Park.
Aides to the Queen are believed to be worried about the memorial's descent toward tawdry neglect. Thus far neither the Canadian nor the British governments have expressed willingness to take on the maintenance costs, which were paid by the Daily Telegraph until Black lost control of the prestigious British newspaper.
Canada's High Commission yesterday acknowledged its concern "about the deteriorating condition" of the memorial, saying it was "exploring options to place its care and upkeep on a solid footing."
"Our goal, with the support of our British friends, is for the memorial to be restored to its former stature," Deputy High Commissioner Guy Saint-Jacques said in a statement.
Black was not alone in underwriting the original cost of the memorial, according to John Derby, former treasurer of the Canadian Memorial Foundation, an informal organization established by Black in the early '90s to promote the project.
"This was very much Conrad Black's project and it was intended to be a somewhat belated recognition of the fact that Canada was the first of the dominions to enter both wars – the Great War and the second war of 1939 to 1945," Derby said.
"Black raised quite a lot of money in Canada, putting the finger on a number of his connections there. The result was an absolutely outstanding piece of work by the French Canadian artist Granche."
Daily Telegraph executives agreed reluctantly to underwrite the memorial's upkeep since its dedication in 1994 – but only because of Black's insistence, said Derby. "When the paper was sold, Black's influence on this issue evaporated," he said.
"Without the chairman booting them about the Canada Memorial, they weren't prepared to continue."
Al Cunningham, spokesperson for the dwindling number of Canadian war veterans in Britain, said he is looking to the Canadian government to step forward and return the memorial to its former grandeur.
"The last time I saw the Canada Memorial the fountain was shut off," said Cunningham, 84, a Welland, Ont., native.
"As much as I would love to say that the Canadian veterans in Britain will look after this, we are a dying force today,'' he said.
"Once there were 20,000 of us and now, no more than 300. We're worn out, struggling. We'll go on as long as we can but no more than a few more years is all, most likely."
