Memorial to the Victims of Communism (Ottawa)

The Memorial to the Victims of Communism — Canada, a Land of Refuge is a proposed monument that is to be built in Ottawa. It was to be erected on a site between the Supreme Court of Canada and the National Library of Canada but in December 2015, Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly suggested that the National Capital Commission instead approve a site half a kilometre to the west, in the Garden of the Provinces and Territories.^[1] The design, location, scale and procedure for the planning of the monument has been controversial and are under review. Under the revised timeline, a national competition is to be held in 2016 to select a new design for the monument which is to be completed by 2018.^[2]

Origins

In 2007, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism Jason Kenney toured Masaryktown, a private park owned by the Czech and Slovak community in Scarborough, Ontario, with Czech ambassador Pavel Vosalik and saw Crucified Again, a statue of a tortured man crucified on a hammer and sickle, commemorating victims of Soviet oppression. Kenney commented to the ambassador that the public should be able to see such a monument and they discussed the idea of creating a memorial in Ottawa.^[3]

Tribute to Liberty was founded the next year as a charity with the mission of building a monument to the victims of Communism. Its 9 member board is composed of members of ethnocultural groups whose members had emigrated from various Communist states. The founding chair of the group was Philip Leong who had run as a candidate for the conservative Canadian Alliance in the 2000 federal election and is described by the National Post as a friend of Kenney's and an admirer of Stephen Harper.^[3] Alide Forstmanis, the group's treasurer who has also served as chair, ran for the Conservative Party of Canada nomination in Kitchener—Waterloo in 2007 while another former director, Wladyslaw Lizon was later elected a Conservative Member of Parliament.^[3]

The National Capital Commission, in 2009, approved the proposal to build the monument in the National Capital Region with a speciic site to be determined later. It suggested modifying the memorial's name, which was originally "A Monument to Victims of Totalitarian Communism: Canada, A Land of Refuge", so that it would commemorate victims of oppressive regimes generally but Tribute to Liberty refused, however the term "totalitarian" was dropped.^[3][4]

Controversy over site and design

In 2011, the National Capital Commission approved a site for the monument at the Garden of the Provinces and Territories^[2] however, in 2012, the then-Conservative federal government in 2012, announced that the memorial would be built instead on a more prominent parcel of land between the Supreme Court of Canada and the National Library of Canada that had been designated for over a century as the future location of a new federal court. In 2014, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin expressed her concern that the memorial “could send the wrong message within the judicial precinct, unintentionally conveying a sense of bleakness and brutalism that is inconsistent with a space dedicated to the administration of justice.”^[5]

A design was selected later in 2014 consisting of a series of folded concrete rows with 100 million "memory squares" to commemorate victims.^[5] A member of the design selection jury, architect Shirley Blumberg, complained that the pool of proposals the jury had to select from was "poor" and that the “the one that was selected by the jury was, I think, particularly brutalist and visceral.”^[5]

In June 2015, the National Capital Commission revised the design, reducing its size so that it would cover 37% of the site rather than 60%, reducing the number of folded concrete rows to five from seven, reducing its height from 14 metres to 8 metres, and moving it further back from Wellington Street and changing its focus to telling the story of refugees from Communist states.^[6]

New government and scrapping of original proposal

The Conservative government of Stephen Harper had pledged $3 million for the construction of the project, with the remaining amount to be raised by Tribute to Liberty.^[4] However, following the 2015 federal election, which resulted in a new Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau taking office, it was reported that no government money would be going towards the project.^[7] Subsequently however, it was announced that construction of the project had been capped at a total cost of $3 million, reduced from $5.5 million, with the Department of Canadian Heritage's contribution to be capped at $1.5 million and the rest to be provided by Tribute to Liberty, thus reducing the government's financial commitment to half its previous pledge.^[1][8]

In addition, Heritage Minister Joly has asked that a new design be chosen for the monument with the general public being involved "from the outset of the design process through to final selection."^[9][10]

Tribute to Liberty had committed to raising $1.26 million towards the project but missed its fundraising deadline of April 2015 and has only raised $900,000.^[1] It was reported that $300,000 of that total was donated to Tribute to Liberty by the previous Conservative government.^[8]

The National Capital Commission's advisory committee on planning, design and realty had earlier expressed concerns about the proposed memorial as potentially being "detrimental to the dignity" of nearby Parliament Hill. They had also expressed concern over the project's price tag, "negative symbolism" and structural safety, particularly in the slippery Ottawa winters. The commission was expected to consider a final design after the federal election. A lawsuit aimed at blocking the project had been placed it on hold until after the final design has been approved.^[11]

On December 17, 2015, the government requested that the site of the monument be moved to the Garden of the Provinces and Territories and that a new design be chosen.^[2] On January 20, 2016, the National Capital Commission rescinded its previous approval for the Supreme Court of Canada site. As well, the the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) announced that it had discontinued its court case against the NCC which would have challenged its approval of the Supreme Court of Canada site stating: “The RAIC is delighted to be ending the legal proceedings and look forward to a more appropriate commemoration being proposed.”^[12]

An online survey asking Canadians their opinions on the proposed monument was opened by the federal government in February 2016; the results will be passed on to the design teams. The monument is expected to be completed by 2018. The government also revealed that the monument is to be 200 to 500 square metres in size — up to 25 times smaller than the 5,000 square metre strcuture planned for the controversial Supreme Court location.^[13][14]

References

External links

• Tribute to Liberty