‘It’s the least we can do’
Vimy Foundation to open education centre on site of battle
Jeremy Diamond already knows exactly where he will be on April 9, 2017. Surrounded by a prestigious audience, including the Queen, the Royal Family, the prime minister and heads of state from around the world, he will be at Vimy Ridge in northern France — the place where, a century before, Canada came of age.
During the three-day Battle of Vimy Ridge, which culminated in one of Canada’s greatest military victories, nearly 3,600 Canadians lost their lives. Another 10,600 were injured.
Nearly a century later, all who fought in the First World War have died. But the Vimy Foundation seeks to keep their legacy alive.
Mr. Diamond, the foundation’s executive director, says that to commemorate the centennial, Canadians need to do something big. “We owe it to these soldiers,” he says. “It’s got to be more than a pin. It’s got to be more than two minutes of silence on Remembrance Day.”
The education centre is something big.
The centre will be a place for Canadians (and “friends of Canada”) to learn about our role in the First World War, Mr. Diamond said.
It’s important to him that it be located at the site of the battle. “The landscape itself can be a very emotive experience for anybody that goes there, because it’s not just an education centre ... You get to go into the trenches that you’ve just learned about,” he said. “And then you get to walk out to the monument itself, which I would consider the greatest piece of Canadian public art in the world.”
The executive director said the ability to empathize with the soldiers who fought is crucial. That’s why the Vimy Foundation has involved so many students in its initiatives. “They understand that if they lived a hundred years ago they would have gone to war, and likely would have been killed,” he said.
Mr. Diamond said he hopes that the centennial will bring Vimy’s significance to the forefront, especially because it coincides with Canada’s 150th birthday. “I think that both those things happening in 2017 really gives us an opportunity to engage Canadians,” he said. “Serendipity, I’d call it.”
Leading up to the centennial anniversary, the foundation is holding a number of events. In late March, it held its annual Vimy Reception at the French embassy in Ottawa, attended by the French ambassador and Canada’s minister of veterans affairs. In April, there will be events in both Vancouver and Montreal, as well as a dinner in Toronto, where tickets will start at $700 a plate.
Since announcing the plan to open the education centre, the foundation has raised more than $5 million from private donors and corporate partnerships. In May 2013, the Canadian government committed to donating an additional $5 million.
The financial commitment made by individuals is a huge accomplishment, Mr. Diamond said. “It shows how important this project is to Canadians. It shows how generous Canadians can be about an event that, of course, none of us were alive for.”
The project is expected to cost a total of $15 million, Mr. Diamond said, meaning they’re two-thirds of the way there. The foundation, working with Veterans Affairs Canada, is in the process of finalizing the design. Because the centre will be built in France, it will engage a construction company there.
The final design plans, Mr. Diamond said, will be finished this summer. They will break ground this autumn.
Mr. Diamond said he knows the project sounds massive. “But somehow we’re going to do it.”
“It is the absolute least we can do to honour [the soldiers who fought at Vimy] in this way.”