Re: Monument

by **Vizzer** Mon 31 May 2021, 12:59 pm

Veterans Affairs Canada May 31. 2021

The five designs for the National Monument to Canada's Mission in Afghanistan have been revealed! Have you seen them yet?

The monument will pay tribute to every Canadian who served in Afghanistan, which was the longest military operation in our country’s history.

We want to hear from you.
Fill out this survey and share your thoughts: http://ow.ly/eVvw50EAYyi

by **GeminiTeam** Fri 04 Jun 2021, 2:15 pm

by Covert Tue 10 Aug 2021, 7:26 am

Monumental mistake: Error on peacekeeping memorial remains after one year

John Last · CBC News · Posted: Aug 10, 2021

Monument - Page 3 Reconciliation-monument-ottawa

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/peacekeeping-monument-error-ottawa-un-1.6135364

by XTYF--33 Thu 07 Oct 2021, 8:50 am

P.E.I. men who died on the same plane during WW II honoured with new monument

Jessica Doria-Brown · CBC News · Posted: Oct 07, 2021

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-ww2-plane-crash-monument-1.6202347

by Enforcer Mon 31 Jan 2022, 9:20 pm

Local Indigenous veteran 'brought to tears' after desecration of Aboriginal War Monument

Jan 31, 2022

"We need to remind ourselves that these are sacred spaces that we should not desecrate," said local veteran Tim O'Loan, who has increased his efforts to clean up the monuments.

The city's monuments were among the collateral damage of a weekend overtaken by protesters of a truck convoy whose main objective has been to demonstrate against Canada's COVID-19 public health mandates.

Local veteran Tim O'Loan who is member of Aboriginal Veterans Association and First Nations Veterans Council says he was sickened to hear that protesters desecrated the monuments, which included urinating on the monuments.

"I was going on to the Twitter feed and was shocked and horrified to hear about some of the things that were done to both the National War Monument and the Aboriginals Veterans' Monument," O'Loan explained to The Sam Laprade Show on Monday, January 31.

"I was sickened and horrified that people had been urinating on both those sites and I just had enough and decided to go down and clean those places up."

O'Loan explained this is something that should never happen and when he posted on social media that he was going down to see the monuments, many veterans reached out to him, expressing that the war monuments are a sacred space.

He said one of the things that were most concerning was those that were paying no mind to what was happening.

"What was particularly horrifying for me was other people just stood and watched -- those who did nothing are complicit as well."

He said demonstrators were sitting around and on the monuments when he went there yesterday.

O'Loan hopes that the memorial sites can be treated with respect. "We need to remind ourselves that these are sacred spaces that we should not desecrate," he said. "Let's just bring back the level of humanity and empathy and respect that those spaces deserve."

City News

by Whiskey Sun 10 Jul 2022, 4:51 pm

North Bay legions receive $40,000 to restore local monuments

July 10. 2022

CTV News

by Mojave Fri 07 Apr 2023, 7:09 am

Amherst looks to create a place for Afghanistan veterans

Alana Pickrell
Published April 6, 2023

A year-and-a-half-ago, Amherst Legion Sergeant in Arms Justin McKay brought forward a project that he says is long overdue: a memorial space for Afghanistan veterans.

“We have roughly over 100 Afghanistan veterans in Cumberland County and they don’t have a cenotaph or any spot to go to remember their fallen comrades,” he said.

However, by September, the goal is to change that by creating a brand new monument outside of town hall.

The memorial will be a black granite stone complete with a concrete walkway and benches to turn it into an inviting space for everyone.

“All 158 of the Canadians that died in Afghanistan will have their names on there, and on the rear of the stone there will be the Act of Remembrance and In Flanders Field, and in the middle of the stone is a picture of the FOB Masum Ghar,” said McKay.

It’s a personal project for everyone involved, including McKay, who says he knows at least 15 men whose names will be etched on the stone.

“I hope they never forget what these guys did… at the end of the day… and the ones that didn’t come back the same,” he said.

“We just have to never forget what people gave up for our freedom.”

On Easter weekend in 2007, six Canadians lost their lives fighting for freedom in Afghanistan. It’s a memory that is still very raw for veteran Jeremy Dobson who was deployed in Afghanistan from January to August of that year.

“They were brothers,” he said, remembering his comrades.

He says the new space in Amherst will make it easier to reflect and remember.

“It’s not just a name on a stone,” he said. “Every person on that head went over there and sacrificed their life for the people of Afghanistan and the people here at home. So it’s very memorializing for them.”

Dobson has been assisting McKay during the planning process by helping with some more of the personal decisions. He says he weighed in on the importance of the fallen names and the picture of the mural that was made at Masum Ghar in Afghanistan.

On April 17, town council is holding a committee of the whole meeting where the project will be discussed in more detail, including a draft overview.

“It’s very important for everyone to remember the people that have sacrificed for our freedoms,” said Amherst Town Councillor Lisa Emery.

“The town likes to work collaboratively with our local organizations, and of course the legion is very important to our community, representing local veterans, so when they approached us, we decided that working with them to bring this project forward was going to be very important.”

On top of giving veterans a place to remember, Dobson says the hope is that this project will also help bring his generation of veterans back into the realm of things.

“The fact that the legion is actually involved in it is bringing a good light to it as well because a lot of the Afghan veterans are feeling left out with the legions because it’s kind of the hush-hush thing,” he said. “A lot of people didn’t consider it a war, but there’s definitely a lot of war-like activities that happened in Afghanistan. It’s not different than previous conflicts that went on.”

The total project is expected to cost over $30,000.

The legion is holding a benefit dance on June 3 and donations are welcomed.

CTV News

by Spectrum Mon 19 Jun 2023, 5:16 pm

Government of Canada reveals selected design for the National Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan

News release
19 June 2023 – Ottawa, ON – Veterans Affairs Canada

In 2001, Canada pledged its support to the international fight against terrorism and deployed military forces to Afghanistan. Canada's whole-of-government involvement in Afghanistan lasted more than a decade. This military mission became our country's most involved and complex one since the Korean War—and the deadliest. More than 40,000 Canadians in uniform and hundreds of civilians and government officials served in the region. We remember their contributions and sacrifices and will preserve their legacy for future generations.

Today, the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, and the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, announced the selected design for the National Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan. The Monument will be built across the street from the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. It will recognize the commitment and sacrifice of Canadians who served in Afghanistan and the support provided to them by Canadians at home.

The Government of Canada has selected Team Stimson’s design and conceptual approach. This decision reflects the feedback of Veterans, their families, and others who served on the mission. The Government is grateful for the work of the design teams, the jury of experts, and everyone that participated in the consultation on this important project.

Team Stimson’s design draws on elements of healing from the Medicine Wheel and takes the form of a circular, sacred space of safety, a “home base” of reflection, memory and contemplation. It is made up of four portals, where an interior area is the sanctuary where the fallen are remembered. Inscribed on the walls of three of the quadrants is the year, names of the fallen and maple leaves, in several rows. The fourth southeast quadrant wall facing the direction of Afghanistan is dedicated to fallen Afghan Allies. In the centre, four bronze flak jackets stand draped on crosses—utilitarian yet poignant reminders of protection.

This Monument creates a powerful opportunity to honour and reflect, and to seek balance and healing, for all Canadians.

News Release

by Monsfool Thu 28 Sep 2023, 5:58 am

Ukrainian vet debacle reignites call to remove controversial Oakville monument

Joanna Lavoie . Published Sept. 27, 2023

Monument - Page 3 Stephen-wise--michael-mostyn-1-6580716-1695861036819

Rabbi Stephen Wise, whose congregation is in Oakville, and B'nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn stand next to a memorial for the members of the SS 14th Waffen Division at Oakville's West Oak Memorial Gardens. The two men have been working together for years to try to get it removed. (B'nai Brith Canada photo)

CTV News

by Wolverine Wed 08 Nov 2023, 11:38 am

Veterans affairs committee denounces Liberals' Afghan monument 'scandal'

Conservative, Bloc and NDP members of the committee united to overcome Liberal efforts to block their condemnation of the monument selection process

Randy Boswell . Published Nov 07, 2023

A House of Commons committee has voted to denounce the Liberal government’s overturning of a juried competition for the design of the long-awaited National Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan.

Conservative, Bloc Québécois and NDP members of the Veterans Affairs committee united to overcome efforts by Liberal MPs to block the denunciation of the monument selection process and to launch a deeper probe into what one Conservative MP decried as a “government management scandal.”

The memorial, to be constructed at a high-profile site near the Canadian War Museum and the National Holocaust Monument on LeBreton Flats, is years behind schedule after an initial controversy over its location and a more recent delay in the selection of a design for the $3-million project. Now it won’t be unveiled until 2027, government officials recently revealed.

In June, nearly two years after a government-appointed jury chose a commemoration concept proposed by Quebec-based designers Team Daoust, then-heritage minister Pablo Rodriguez and then-Veterans Affairs minister Lawrence MacAulay announced the government was rejecting the jury’s choice and awarding the commission to Alberta-based designers Team Stimson.

The decision, the government said, was based on the results of an online survey of veterans and other members of the public who preferred the Stimson design over the Daoust concept. Critics have called the survey “unscientific” and insisted that online polling should never trump an expert jury when choosing the design of a national commemoration as important as the Afghanistan monument.

The overturning of the jury’s decision has created a firestorm in the public art community and prompted Team Daoust representatives — including former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour, an adviser on the proposal — to condemn the “unfair” and “undemocratic” outcome of the competition, and to accuse the government of “cheating” to get the result it wanted.

Expert witnesses from the country’s cultural sector testified at the House committee on Tuesday, slamming the Liberal government’s handling of the monument competition and warning that the country’s reputation has taken a blow in the global arts community.

Université de Montréal professor Jean-Pierre Chupin, Canada Research Chair in Architecture, Competitions and Mediations of Excellence, told the committee that the uproar over the planned monument represents “a turning point in the history of competitions in Canada” and that “there is no precedent” for the kind of government “interference” that took place to overrule the jury.

The vote by the Veterans Affairs committee to condemn the decision and review the selection process compels the government to produce “unredacted documents” related to the monument competition no later than Nov. 17. The motion specifically states that the committee “denounces the government’s about-face and lack of respect for the rules in deciding not to award the design of the commemorative monument” to Team Daoust, “which won the competition conducted by a team of experts set up by the Liberal government itself.”

The committee has also called on Rodriguez and MacAulay to appear as witnesses at a hearing on the monument design decision and process no later than the end of November.

Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor came under fierce opposition fire at last week’s meeting of the committee, but insisted that that the survey responses from Canadian veterans — especially those who served in Afghanistan — were the most important factor in awarding the commission to Team Stimson.

The Team Stimson design, led by Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation artist Adrian Stimson from southern Alberta, draws on “elements of healing from the concept of the Medicine Wheel,” including walls inscribed with the names of Canadian military personnel who died in Afghanistan and a “circular, sacred space of safety, a ‘home base’ of reflection, memory and contemplation.” The central feature is a stone circle with four bronze flak jackets and helmets draped on crosses, “utilitarian yet poignant reminders of protection.”

The Team Daoust design, led by Montreal architecture and urban design firm Daoust Lestage, Quebec City artist Luca Fortin and their strategic adviser Arbour, features a contemplative space around two large walls erected at angles to create framed views of the Peace Tower to the east and the Canadian War Museum to the west.

Between 2001 and 2014, more than 40,000 members of the Canadian Armed Forces served and 158 Canadian soldiers died in Afghanistan.

The Cold Lake Sun