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On Remembrance Point at Green Cove, along the scenic Cabot Trail of Cape Breton Island, a planned, majestic statue known as ‘Mother Canada’ grows closer to reality.
A town hall meeting, recently held in nearby Ingonish, showed clear, majority support for the initiative from the approximately 200 people who attended. But you wouldn’t know it from local media coverage, according to organizers.
While local media aimed for literal ‘balance’ in its coverage of the recent town hall meeting, this actually served to distort the truth, according to Toronto businessman Tony Patrick Trigiani, who is spearheading this initiative.
These sentiments were echoed in a letter to the editor by Lewis MacKenzie, the retired major-general who is serving as an ambassador for the Never Forgotten National Memorial.
Mackenzie writes:
“…With some 200 attendees, a conservative estimate, judged by the three standing ovations for the yea side would place 90 percent of the audience firmly in support of the monument and its proposed location. Even deducting the author’s bias, at least 80 percent were in favour, yet, every report I read, saw and heard, including the one noted above gave equal time and emphasis to each side of the debate ignoring the fact the yeas outnumbered the nays by at least eight to one. Surely that should count for something and be noted in the pursuit of accurate reporting?”
The statue is officially part of the ‘Never Forgotten National Memorial,’ planned for the 150th birthday of Canada at a special ‘sunrise celebration.’ The formidable, 24-metre-high statue will be a counterpoint to Canada’s brooding figure at Vimy Ridge, in France, known as ‘Canada Bereft.’ However, in this case, with her arms outstretched, the figure will be decidedly more welcoming.
The memorial has the backing of Parks Canada and the federal government. The statue is the centrepiece of the memorial, which will include, at first, an observation deck, a commemorative ring featuring a low wall of metal plaques that honour Canadian war dead. Eventually, in later phases, there will be an interpretive centre, souvenir shop and snack bar. A pavilion will also later bring in the contributions that Canadian women made during the wars, with symbolic nods to four areas of everyday life — home, school, farms, and factories.
While there has been some opposition to the memorial at the local level, Trigiani says they are going through all the proper steps, including a detailed environmental assessment.
It’s obvious that there is broad-based support for the initiative, which will serve as a powerful reminder to not only honour those who have been taken in service to Canada, but also to welcome new immigrants to our shores.
The monument is grandiose enough that Nova Scotia will clearly benefit from increased tourism. And yet millions more Canadians can benefit from the historical and educational opportunities the initiative will bring. On the cold, wind-swept shores of Cape Breton Island, Canada will have a fitting monument not only to her war dead, but for the new generations to come — those who we have an obligation to teach.
Too often we focus on victimization narratives in Canadian history. Yes, there have been bad things done in our history and we need to remember them, and we need to learn from them.
But we also need to keep perspective.
We built this country on compromise but we forged it in bravery and battle. When the First and Second World Wars occurred, Canada was a noble cause, worth fighting for. The Never Forgotten National Memorial reminds us that it still is.
— Roderick Benns is the publisher of Leaders and Legacies and is also Director – Educational and Narrative Development (Historical, First Nations, and Multicultural Outreach Programs) for the Never Forgotten National Memorial Foundation.
Hi. I am from Ingonish, NS. As you know, I have a Facebook page supporting this amazingly beautiful monument. Roderick, I love this article and was wondering if you would mind if I can post this on our page. I would love to chat sometime about it if you want. We the people North of Smokey are proud of this but like you state media seems to want to only post partial truth rather than the whole truth. The two meeting that went on here for the monument had at least 90% if not more of supporters. The nay sayers were not as vocal at our last meeting or as loud as they seem to be with the media. I personally tell them if they need to ask questions I would be more than happy to answer them or get answers for them. But they don’t want to hear it so not much we can do about that I guess. Thank you again. Love seeing a positive spin about this. Take care from Ingonish, Cape Breton NS.
We think it’s a great initiative, Lisa, and we’re happy to provide support for it. Supporting Canadian history is part of our mandate and we believe this project is significant in scope and will draw attention to the legacy of our veterans. At the same time, we believe it’s a welcoming symbol for present day Canada, too. You are welcome to use the first couple of paragraphs and then provide a link to the story. Cheers!
With all due respect to the people who live “north of Smokey” this is a NATIONAL park and it belongs to all Canadians. The mandate of our national parks is to stand against the sometimes unstoppable tide of development, even for seemingly noble causes, and preserve some small portion of what was our natural heritage. I cannot speculate as to the motives of the local people who attended these meetings in support. This is an economically depressed area and perhaps the promise of tourism dollars has some impact. As I heard one Nova Scotian history professor state (paraphrasing) “if collosal statues were so great for economic development, they would be springing up all over the place” I am a proud Nova Scotian and I served in our military. A grotesque statue, reminiscent of one of those tacky cast-concrete Madonna lawn ornaments, that defaces a small and precious piece of natural beauty, is not the way to remember our fallen. Canadians remember and we need no collossus to do that. We remember our fallen in the thousands of centotaphs in towns and cities across the nation. Our fallen are remembered in the war graves in Europe with muted and tasteful memorials and stil to this day, with the flowers of children placed in graves by the school children of nations still grateful. They are remembered every minute of every day by the parent, husbands, wives and children that they left behind. If the federal government wants to honour and remember our veterans, then maybe they could invest more money in helping the living ones really come home – phsyically, mentally and emotionally. If Mr. Trigiani wants to honour our fallen, then maybe he might set up some scholarships for the children of soldiers – men and women – who have given their lives. FInally, it is interesting to me that with the exception of the attendees at those meetings, all and any that I have talked to about this proposal are soundly opposed. Its not just “the media” – it is sensible and thoughtful Canadians who think this is a disaster in the making, overblown, jingoistic and inappropriate.
Frazer, I am in complete agreement with your description of this monument as disastrous, overblown, jingoistic and inappropriate! If the wealthy businessman behind this needs to assuage his ego, how about he look into providing much needed public housing in his home area of Toronto?
South Africa is currently experienced a drought of epic proportion, that is not expected to ease as Climate Change brings increasing starvation to the animals and props of this area! Almost every day we read of more starving children in areas of Syria and the deaths of those trying to flee the conflict.
Please Mr Trigiani, use your ample beneficence for a better use than this outrageous statue that disfigures the beauty of the natural area