National Victims of Communism Memorial | Completed

[Aylmer]

Is it just me, or is that portion of Wellington/Ottawa River Parkway becoming a dumping ground for monuments? Holocaust, Firefighters, Communism, WWII and two others I can't even remember. I mean, it's miles better than the original location, but I can't help but feel that monuments have gone from being focal points of attention and casual rememberance to these inward-looking, blind monoliths.

How about we just take all these monuments and put them in Vars or something? It'd be cheaper and would probably fit in just as well as they will downtown.

[rocketphish]

Victims of communism memorial to be moved, Joly announces

Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 17, 2015 | Last Updated: December 17, 2015 11:24 AM EST

Canadian Heritage Minister Melanie Joly announced Thursday that the controversial Memorial to the Victims of Communism will be moved to the Garden of the Provinces from its previously proposed location next to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The $5.5-million memorial was first proposed in 2008, when a sponsoring group called Tribute to Liberty was created with the help of Conservative cabinet minister Jason Kenney.

The memorial received approval in principle from all parties a couple of years later and in 2011, the National Capital Commission offered a site at the Garden of the Provinces, on Wellington Street just east of LeBreton Flats.

The chosen site was initially met with enthusiasm by Kenney and Tribute to Liberty. But in 2013, the government announced a new 5,000-square-metre site near the Supreme Court had been selected.

That site had long been reserved for a future Federal Court of Canada building in the government’s Long Term Vision and Plan for the parliamentary and judicial precincts.

The new site attracted little notice until September 2014, when Ottawa architect Barry Padolsky wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, protesting that the site had been “stolen” by the government for the memorial.

Others soon registered their protests, including Shirley Blumberg, a prominent Toronto architect who served on the jury that selected the winning design following a national competition.

Meanwhile, with Tribute to Liberty struggling to raise money from donors, the government quietly increased the taxpayer contribution to the memorial to more than $4 million.

Public concern about the project ramped up after images of the chosen design were released a year ago. As more voices spoke out against the memorial, public attitudes hardened and the project – designed to be a vote-getter for the Conservative government – gradually became a political liability.

Though work was supposed to begin on the memorial this year, it was delayed by NCC concerns about the designs scope and appearance and the need to remove contaminated soil on the chosen site.

Ultimately, with polls showing the memorial was hugely unpopular with Ottawa residents, the whole project was put on hold until after the election.

During the election campaign, the Liberal party came out against the chosen site.

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[MoreTrains]

Chopping the federal contribution to 1.5 million. Something tells me this will be a much more modest memorial as we have been calling for.

I do agree though, the west end of Wellington has alot. The others you are forgetting is the Afghanistan Memorial and the Victoria Cross winners memorial I think.

[rocketphish]

Victims of communism monument should be moved off controversial site, government says
Federal financial contribution to downtown Ottawa monument to be capped at $1.5M

CBC News Posted: Dec 17, 2015 8:09 AM ET Last Updated: Dec 17, 2015 1:36 PM ET

The federal government is asking for the planned monument for victims of communism to be moved off a controversial site near the Supreme Court of Canada and back to the originally planned site at the Garden of the Provinces and Territories, farther west of Parliament Hill.
Melanie Joly communism monument Dec. 17 2015

The government also wants Canadians to be heard "from the outset of the design process through to final selection," Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly announced at a news conference in Ottawa Thursday morning.

"The process of this monument was too political, too divisive, and ultimately far from its goal of remembering the horror of victims of communism," Joly said, adding that monuments should provide for reflection, inspiration and learning, "not shrouded in controversy."

The site change is subject to approval by the National Capital Commission's board of directors, which has final authority.

Last month, Joly promised to consult with stakeholders and make a prompt decision about the scale and location of the monument, which she called a "priority" in her portfolio.

The monument has attracted controversy in part because of the planned location next to the Supreme Court of Canada building on Wellington Street — land that was reserved for a new Federal Court building.

The monument has faced criticism because it is seen as too large for the parliamentary precinct and because it dealt with a subject matter that was not essentially Canadian. The design was subsequently reduced in scale.

Joly said Thursday the government's financial contribution to the monument will be capped at $1.5 million.

Online public consultations on the design will be held in 2016, with the monument expected to be complete in 2018.

"We are committed to the matching of funds from the federal government and I have no hesitation in saying we will meet our commitment," said Ludwik Klimkowski, chair of Tribute to Liberty, which is spearheading the monument project.

"If it was only up to me, I wish for this project to be completed for the 150th of Canada. But, obviously, we'll see how effective we can be in terms of moving this along."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/victims-of-communism-monument-next-steps-1.3369261

[rocketphish]

Liberals move controversial anti-communism monument away from Supreme Court

Bill Curry
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015 11:23AM EST | Last updated Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015 3:27PM EST

The Liberal government is pressing ahead with a controversial monument to victims of communism – but it will be redesigned and built farther west of Parliament Hill than originally planned.

Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly announced Thursday that the monument will instead be built at the Garden of the Provinces and Territories, which is a plot of green space on the south side of Wellington Street farther west than the original location.

“The process was too divisive, too political, and didn’t generate the right consensus that ought to be generated when it comes to a monument,” Ms. Joly said. “It’s an important monument and ought to be celebrated. It ought to be commemorated. But at the same time, the process has to be an open, transparent and inclusive one and that’s exactly why we’re doing this right now.”

The government will now hold consultations on a new design. The federal budget for the project has been reduced to $1.5-million, which will be matched by private donations, for a total budget of $3-million.

The previous Conservative government had promised $3-million in federal funds and expected the total cost to exceed $5-million. As a result, new proposals are expected to be considerably smaller than what has been proposed to date. The federal government has already spent $370,000 on the project, including a national design competition, which will now start over from scratch.

The site was one of the most controversial aspects of the project, according to critics, including Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin. The prime location on the north side of Wellington Street immediately southwest of the Supreme Court has long been planned for a new Federal Court building. The space is currently a grassy square bordered by trees and parking spaces.

Ms. Joly said Thursday that the Supreme Court and the Ottawa mayor were among the roughly 30 groups and individuals who were consulted by the Liberal government.

Ms. Joly said those consultations led the government to the view that there is consensus around the idea of building the monument at the Garden of the Provinces and Territories, which had been proposed earlier along in the process.

Original plans for the monument featured large concrete slabs that would reach a maximum height of 14 metres, meaning that the structure would be taller than the National War Memorial, which is farther east. The plans for the monument were later shrunk by the National Capital Commission.

The monument is popular with groups representing Canadians who come from former communist states. The project was heavily steered and promoted by è, then the Conservatives’ multiculturalism minister, who had long been tasked by the party to gain new support in Canada’s ethnic communities.

Ludwik Klimkowski, board chair of Tribute to Liberty, the charity organization that is fundraising in support of the monument, was on hand for the minister’s announcement and pledged his support.

Mr. Klimkowski noted that the full name for the project includes the phrase “Canada, a Land of Refuge,” which he said should be uniting message in light of the country’s current focus on accepting Syrian refugees.

“The fact that we need this unified, common place for all of us should elevate this memorial beyond any political discourse and I am really, really happy that Madam Joly is so open and so transparent that we were able to talk at length as to what needs to be accomplished,” he said. “Tribute to Liberty has endorsed [the government’s] idea.”

Conservative MP Peter Van Loan, who is the critic for Canadian heritage and national historic sites, said he is disappointed to see the project will be delayed and that the Liberals are reducing the size of the financial pledge made under the Conservatives.

Nonetheless, he said his party continues to support the project.

“We want to see a memorial go ahead,” he said.

Future plans for the land near the Supreme Court are now in the hands of Public Works.

Meanwhile, the Liberals have not yet decided on the fate of another controversial monument that is planned for Cape Breton, called Mother Canada.

Proponents of the Never Forgotten National Memorial envision a massive statue roughly 24 metres tall in Cape Breton Highlands National Park that would serve as a war memorial.

The Vimy Foundation has strongly opposed the project as “disrespectful and unsavoury,” as it copies the image of the statue at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, who is responsible for Parks Canada, said Thursday she is still reviewing the file.

“We will be making a decision shortly,” she said. “There’s a diversity of views. There are certainly people that are concerned about the location in a national park and we’ve had many letters written in that regard. So we’re just reviewing it now. There is a process under way. … I think we just need to look very carefully when we make decisions about memorials to ensure that there is public support for them.”

Follow Bill Curry on Twitter: @curryb

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/poli...away-from-supreme-court/article27800893/

[Admiral Nelson]

Pull the plug on the damn thing, no one wants a permanent reminder of the ideologically-driven stunts the last government constantly played with public money.

I'm shocked there's still public land and money ($1.5 million!) being allocated to this monstrosity.

Leave the Garden of the Provinces and Territories alone, it doesn't deserve this.

[acottawa]

So, to recap:

Bad: Multimillion dollar monument on Wellington to a topic that is "too political" divisive and represents "Harper Ideology" where the Minister decides the location, announces it, and the NCC board is expected to rubber stamp the decision.

Good: Multimillion dollar monument on Wellington to a topic that is not political, not divisive and does not represent the Harper Ideology, where the Minister decides the location, announces it and the NCC board is expected to rubber stamp the decision.

That's certainly "Real Change"

[passwordisnt123]

Originally Posted by acottawa

So, to recap:

Bad: Multimillion dollar monument on Wellington to a topic that is "too political" divisive and represents "Harper Ideology" where the Minister decides the location, announces it, and the NCC board is expected to rubber stamp the decision.

Good: Multimillion dollar monument on Wellington to a topic that is not political, not divisive and does not represent the Harper Ideology, where the Minister decides the location, announces it and the NCC board is expected to rubber stamp the decision.

That's certainly "Real Change"

I totally agree, I'd also add to that: Why are taxpayers investing $1.5 million in this monument under the Liberal proposal? I think a more appropriate figure would be closer to $0.

However, I do think that it's important this thing get built in some form. If the government scraps it altogether, then the conservatives can simply build some new monstrosity on some other prime location once they get back into office. If the government builds a modest, scaled down version and tucks it somewhere inconspicuous then the Tories can never build another brutalist monstrosity to the "victims of communism" because it's already built.

[rocketphish]

Victims of communism memorial group got $300K from Tories

Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 22, 2015 | Last Updated: December 22, 2015 7:45 PM EST

Tribute to Liberty, the charity sponsoring the Memorial to the Victims of Communism, quietly received $300,000 from the former Conservative government, the Department of Canadian Heritage has disclosed.

The money was paid out under Citizenship and Immigration’s inter-action multiculturalism program, designed to help individuals and communities integrate and contribute to building an “integrated and socially cohesive society,” according to a document on the department’s website.

Alide Forstmanis, Tribute to Liberty’s treasurer, said Tuesday the charity is using the federal money to pay for its fundraising activities. “It all goes to that,” Forstmanis said. “Nothing else – just fundraising.”

The charity’s latest filing with the Canada Revenue Agency, covering the period from Aug. 1, 2014 to July 31, 2015, lists a sum of $176,599 from the federal government – nearly half of its total revenues of $362,269 during the one-year reporting period.

Contacted by the Citizen, Tribute to Liberty’s chair, Ludwik Klimkowski, said he wasn’t certain but his “recollection” was that the federal money represented a refund of HST paid by the charity. “How else would we receive that money?” he asked.

But Forstmanis said most of the $176,599 represents a portion of the federal grant. “We were given $300,000 over two years, but we didn’t spend that. So going into the third year, we still have some money left. So we have actually been very frugal.”

Forstmanis, who like Klimkowski is an unpaid volunteer, said many people who’ve come to Canada from former or current communist nations are elderly and can’t “verbalize their feelings in English.

“I think these people are worth it,” she said. “There are still people who are living with fear to this day, and that is why they are not vocal.”

Tribute to Liberty’s latest filing, posted on the CRA website this week, lists total assets of $883,412, including the money from the federal government. That’s up from $573,285 a year earlier.

In addition to the $300,000 grant, the former Conservative government was prepared to spend more than $4 million on the memorial’s construction and design costs.

But last week, Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly announced a reboot of the project, which had become deeply unpopular.

The memorial will be moved from its assigned site near the Supreme Court of Canada to the Garden of the Provinces and Territories, further west on Wellington Street.

Its budget has been reduced to $3 million from $5.5 million, with the federal government matching money raised by Tribute to Liberty to a maximum of $1.5 million. Public consultations and a new design competition will be held in 2016.

Even with the federal money, Tribute to Liberty collected $114,000 less in revenues last year than it did in 2013-14. Its fundraising efforts may have been hampered by the growing controversy over the memorial.

On the other hand, the charity reduced its expenditures sharply in 2014-15. It spent just $54,717 – down from about $200,000 the previous year.

Although Tribute to Liberty remains well short of its $1.5-million fundraising goal, Klimkowski expressed confidence that it will achieve its objective. “We have enough pledges that are conditional upon commencement of the construction to more than meet our commitment.”

Klimkowski said Joly wouldn’t have committed herself publicly to the memorial project “if she wasn’t certain about the commitment coming from Tribute to Liberty.”

But he didn’t know whether the charity would be able to include the money it received from the federal government in its $1.5-million fundraising objective. “I hesitate to say, because at this point, I just don’t know.”

Simon Rivest, a spokesman for Canadian Heritage, had no answer, either, saying in an email that the question of how the money will be invested “should be addressed by the Tribute to Liberty board of directors.”

The latest filing appears to reflect a donation of about $14,000 that Tribute to Liberty received earlier this year from Latvia. But the tally does not include a $121,000 pledge made by the government of Hungary in August or an earlier donation of just over $20,000 from the Czech Republic.

[email protected]
twitter.com/ButlerDon

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...bolsters-tribute-to-libertys-fundraising

[rocketphish]

NCC rescinds approval for Supreme Court site for victims of communism memorial

Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: January 20, 2016 | Last Updated: January 20, 2016 4:06 PM EST

The National Capital Commission’s board has put the final nail in the coffin of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism’s contentious site near the Supreme Court of Canada.

At its public meeting Wednesday, the board rescinded the approval it gave in 2013 for the site.

The former Conservative government’s decision to position the memorial on the judicial precinct site galvanized public opposition and turned what was supposed to be a vote-getter for the Conservatives into a political liability.

Melanie Joly, the minister of Canadian Heritage, announced last month that, after a redesign, the memorial will move to a site yet to be determined in the Garden of the Provinces and Territories, further west on Wellington Street. The NCC had originally reserved a site there for the memorial in 2011.

Given Joly’s announcement, the decision to rescind approval for the Supreme Court site was little more than a formality.

At the request of Canadian Heritage, the NCC board also rescinded the approval it granted last June for decontamination of the 5,000-square-metre site near the Supreme Court. And that did prompt objections from NCC director Michael Pankiw.

Pankiw noted that last June, the board was told the site needed decontamination at some point, “and this was the opportunity to do it.”

“We do have a lot of contaminated sites in the capital,” Pankiw said. “I would like to see the site cleaned up at this particular time.”

But Steve Willis, executive director of capital planning for the NCC, said the property — reserved for a future Federal Court of Canada headquarters building — will be used as parkland for the foreseeable future.

“It’s safe as parkland,” Willis said, adding that the property’s owner, Public Services and Procurement Canada, “is satisfied no action is required.”

If the Federal Court building later proceeds, he said, PSPC will need to bring forward a new remediation strategy for NCC approval.

The memorial will be back before the NCC board in April, when Canadian Heritage will seek a new land use approval for the Garden of the Provinces and Territories site.

Also Wednesday, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and its fellow applicants announced they had discontinued a court case against the NCC, challenging it’s now rescinded June decision to allow the site decontamination to proceed.

“The RAIC is delighted to be ending the legal proceedings and look forward to a more appropriate commemoration being proposed,” said institute president Allan Teramura.

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http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...t-site-for-victims-of-communism-memorial

[rocketphish]

Public asked for opinions on smaller Memorial to Victims of Communism

Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: February 2, 2016 | Last Updated: February 2, 2016 6:03 PM EST

The federal government has launched online public consultations, seeking public input into what will be a dramatically smaller Memorial to the Victims of Communism.

Members of the public have until Feb. 16 to fill out an anonymous survey on the Department of Canadian Heritage’s website. Their feedback will be shared with teams that will compete in a new national design competition to be held later this year.

Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly announced in December that the memorial, then planned for a 5,000-square-metre site near the Supreme Court of Canada, would instead be built across Wellington Street at the Garden of the Provinces and Territories, pending approval by the National Capital Commission’s board.

She essentially rebooted the project, cutting its budget from $5.5 million to a maximum of $3 million and announcing plans for the new competition to pick a more appropriate design.

What wasn’t clear at the time was just how much smaller the new site would be. According to the online survey, it will be just 200 to 500 square metres in size — up to 25 times smaller than the controversial Supreme Court location.

The survey makes it clear the new monument will focus on the theme of Canada as a land of refuge which, it says, “recognizes Canada’s international role as a place of refuge for people fleeing injustice, persecution and oppression.”

Within that theme, it asks survey participants to choose from a list of four objectives and identify the “visitor experiences” they think are most important.

Should the memorial, for example, be a place for reflection and contemplation? A gathering space for a commemorative event or ceremony? Or a catalyst that prompts discussion and inspires visitors to learn more about the past?

The questionnaire also asks whether the memorial should be an impressive monument set in an open space, a human-scaled monument set in an intimate environment or an ensemble of individual components that encourages interaction with the monument.

After the consultation ends on Feb 16, Canadian Heritage says, the project’s timeline will be finalized and the design competition will be launched.

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna, in whose Ottawa Centre riding the memorial will be built, said she expects the final design “to respect the choices and the freely expressed opinions of Canadians.

“I encourage Canadians across the country to give us their point of view by participating in the survey,” McKenna said in a written statement. “I am eager to see the final concept.”

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http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...tations-on-victims-of-communism-memorial

[Norman Bates]

Voted. Suggested that it be placed in Winnipeg with the human rights museum.

[Buggys]

I voted and seconded your Winnipeg museum idea.

[passwordisnt123]

That's a really good point (re: Winnipeg). Wish I'd thought of that before I voted.

The thing I don't get in terms of location is: why the hell is it a seemingly foregone conclusion that this monstrosity should get built in the garden of the provinces? What does communism have to do with the provinces? Has Russia invaded PEI and nobody bothered to tell anybody about it?

[MoreTrains]

Originally Posted by passwordisnt123

The thing I don't get in terms of location is: why the hell is it a seemingly foregone conclusion that this monstrosity should get built in the garden of the provinces? What does communism have to do with the provinces? Has Russia invaded PEI and nobody bothered to tell anybody about it?

So, we have some news to break to you... and it isnt PEI, its Alberta...

[ars]

I suggested Calgary-Heritage as the most appropriate site for the monument

[rocketphish]

Victims of communism survey hard to find; battling technical problems

Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: February 3, 2016 | Last Updated: February 3, 2016 7:40 PM EST

The Liberal government’s effort to solicit public feedback about the newly downsized Memorial to the Victims of Communism is off to a rocky start.

Inexplicably, the online questionnaire posted Tuesday by the Department of Canadian Heritage is almost impossible to find, primarily because there’s no link to it on the department’s home page.

To find the questionnaire, people need to search the department’s website, locate the news release announcing the public consultation and click on a link embedded in the release.

Moreover, some of those who were able to locate the questionnaire Tuesday said they found the document had already been filled out. One questionnaire the Citizen linked to even included negative comments about the memorial made by another participant.

“Imagine my surprise to find that answers were ‘pre-selected’ on the survey site – already checked off as being the ‘best’ response,” Richmond resident Lynne Owen said in an email.

Owen tried again Wednesday and was able to fill out the questionnaire. But it opened on the final page instead of the first page. That, she said, “might be confusing to anyone who isn’t aware that there are a series of preceding questions.”

The Citizen notified Canadian Heritage of the apparent problems and asked why the department had not placed the survey on its home page.

A spokesperson for Canadian Heritage minister Melanie Joly said Wednesday evening that the department has not received any complaints about accessing the survey. Christine Michaud says that as of Wednesday afternoon almost 4,000 people have “responded” to the survey.

She says a link to the survey can be found on the Public Art and Monuments section of the department’s website at canada.pch.gc.ca/eng/1443025436163/1443025436165.

She added that Heritage is preparing to post an image and link on the culture, history and sport theme page (canada.ca/en/services/culture.html) and on the Canadian Heritage departmental profile page at canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage.html.

The victims of communism memorial – originally planned for a 5,000-square metre site near the Supreme Court of Canada – ultimately became a political liability for the former Conservative government, which put the project on hold pending the outcome of the Oct. 19 federal election.

The new Liberal government announced in December it would be redesigned, downsized and shifted to a much smaller site at the Garden of the Provinces and Territories.

It also promised to consult the public and incorporate its views on the memorial before launching a new national design competition. Those interested have until Feb. 16 to fill out the anonymous survey – assuming they can locate it.

[email protected]
twitter.com/ButlerDon

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...hard-to-find-battling-technical-problems

[black cat]

In my mind, the Victims of Communism monument should not be a "national" monument as the theme has nothing to do with Canada. Given that Canada currently has good relations with a number of communist countries such as China, Cuba, Vietnam and Cambodia, is it not the height of hypocracy to have a victims of communism monument. There are plenty of regimes in the world which have their very ugly histories yet we do not have victims monuments for them either.

If there are people who wish to have a victims of communism monument, then let it be their initiative, let them pay for it, and let them negotiate with the City of Ottawa to find an appropriate place in the city for such a monument, but it should have no federal support or funding or have any place on Parliament Hill, the Judicial Precinct or any other major federal site. National monuments in Ottawa should relate to Canada, its people and history. We can agree to have some monuments to international figures such as Ghandi though again they represent international movements and are about national relations.

[mykl]

I was personally annoyed that there was no option to select that you didn't want the monument to be built at all. I made this known in the comments. It means nothing to them, but at least I said it. lol

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by passwordisnt123

That's a really good point (re: Winnipeg). Wish I'd thought of that before I voted.

The thing I don't get in terms of location is: why the hell is it a seemingly foregone conclusion that this monstrosity should get built in the garden of the provinces? What does communism have to do with the provinces? Has Russia invaded PEI and nobody bothered to tell anybody about it?

SHUSH! You weren't supposed to tell.