DISCUSSION REGARDING PROPOSED ‘MOTHER CANADA’ MONUMENT CONTINUES

Re: ‘Monument does not belong in national park,’ Cape Breton Post letter to the editor, March 16 Re: ‘Veterans’ monument description upsets reader,’ Cape Breton Post letter to the editor, April 4

As spokesperson for friendsofourfallen.ca, I am compelled to respond to the above letters submitted by Christiane Tanner (March 16) and Scott MacKinnon (April 4).

Nowhere in The Parks Canada Act does Parks Canada “endorse the philosophy of peace” as Ms. Tanner asserts. She also says that “the Mother Canada Monument … evokes war.”

Rosemary LaRusic, in her March 28 letter to the Cape Breton Post (‘Peace Memorial’ more apt name for national park proposal), makes a strong case in support of Mother Canada as a peace memorial. It is a stark reminder of the price our fallen have made to restore peace throughout the world.

Ms. Tanner lauds the war memorials in Paris and in Ottawa because they can be seen by millions of people. That is true. But both of those memorials missed the opportunity for quiet, tranquil remembrance and commemoration. The L’Arc de Triomphe in Paris is located in the middle of a roundabout which has 12 major highways meeting at the hub of the L’Arc. The Canadian War Memorial in Ottawa is found in an open triangle surrounded by Elgin Street on two sides and Rideau Street on the third.

I am not disparaging these memorials but their location is not appropriate for quiet contemplation and remembrance.

Now, “In the interest of truth,” I submit the following. The Fortress of Louisbourg national historic site was constituted under the terms of the National Parks Act which makes it a national park. The references Mr. MacKinnon makes regarding the size of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park shows what a tiny piece of the park would be used for the Never Forgotten National Memorial.

Besides “the pitiful excuse of a monument to veterans on French Mountain”, there is a memorial bench at Green Cove, Victoria County and a monument honouring Stanley Thompson at the Highlands Links Golf Course. This monument, to one man who designed a golf course on confiscated land, takes up more space than the monument to the 117,000 veterans who sacrificed their lives for Canada.

Further, the wording on the bronze plaque attached to the granite boulder on French Mountain says: “They will never know the beauty of this place, see the seasons change or enjoy nature’s chorus.” The fact is ‘they’ did enjoy all of this! I don’t believe ‘they’ did not expect to return home to that splendor and their families.

Parks Canada should be honoured to have the veterans memorial at Green Cove. Monuments, by their very nature, should be monumental.

Ray Stapleton

Ingonish Centre