The federal government says it is not interested in changing the site chosen for the Memorial to the Victims of Communism, despite a growing chorus of objections.
Mayor Jim Watson, Ottawa-area MPs and others have now asked the government to move the memorial from its planned spot on Confederation Boulevard near the Supreme Court building.
“Ottawa residents and their representatives were not consulted on the location, size and the design of the memorial,” Ottawa Centre NDP MP Paul Dewar, whose riding includes the memorial site, said in the House of Commons.
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“When building a monument to the victims of communism, why is this government ignoring democratic consultation?”
Conservative MP Rick Dykstra, the parliamentary secretary to heritage minister, said Dewar’s charge was “absolutely not true.”
“Consultation has taken place on this monument and the fact that it was brought forward by the organizations involved should be respected by (Dewar),” he said.
“The memorial will honour more than 100 million lives lost under communist regimes, pay tribute to the Canadian ideas of liberty, freedom, democracy and human rights. Our government is committed to honouring victims of communism in our speech from the throne in 2010, and … we look forward to fulfilling that commitment.”
Both the site and the design of the memorial have drawn sharp criticism.
The memorial will occupy about half the 5,000-square-metre site on Wellington Street between the Supreme Court and Library and Archives Canada.
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