Feds ignored calls to rename Victims of Communism memorial

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The federal government was told it should change the name of the controversial Victims of Communism memorial to better reflect the experience of others who found refuge in Canada.

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The recommendation, made last year by a historian, was to change the name to “Memorial to the Victims of Communism and other authoritarian regimes-Canada a Land of Refuge,” according to government documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.

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Government officials, however, decided not to follow the recommendation even though they were told it was consistent with conclusions reached separately and earlier by the National Capital Commission.

The “Memorial to the Victims of Communism-Canada a Land of Refuge” will officially open Dec. 12.

The unveiling of the memorial was put on hold last year because of the controversy over parliamentarians honouring a Waffen SS soldier and potential links between the monument and Nazi collaborators, according to records obtained by the Ottawa Citizen. In addition, Jewish groups have voiced their ongoing concerns about the names of alleged Nazi collaborators and other fascists being inscribed on the memorial.

The memorial, located near the corner of Wellington and Bay streets, is supposed to honour those who suffered under communism.

But last year the Department of Canadian Heritage commissioned a report from University of Ottawa historian Roman Krakovsky to examine various issues and problems with the initiative. The initial recommendation was to change the memorial’s name.

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“This recommendation is consistent with the extensive experience of Canada as a land of refuge for individuals and groups fleeing authoritarian regimes worldwide,” Krakovsky pointed out. That name change would also honour those who fled from Uganda in 1972, Kosovo in 1999, various locations in Asia, and from the military dictators who took over Chile in 1973.

“As a monument of national historical significance, the experience the Memorial commemorates must go beyond the experience of a special group of individuals, in this case, those who fled Communism,” Krakovsky noted.

But in the final report accepted by Canada Heritage the name change was removed.

Department official Patryk Polec wrote to Krakovsky that his recommendation was “not required.”

Krakovsky said in an interview on Dec. 10 that changing the name of the monument would have “been more generous and allowed for experiences of all refugees, all groups who found a home in Canada” and escaped from totalitarian regimes.

“Why they (Canadian Heritage) refused, I don’t know,” he added.

The records were obtained by the Ottawa Citizen using the Access to Information Act.

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The Memorial to the Victims of Communism has already been the focus of multiple controversies over its exact purpose, location, size and cost over the last 15 years. The price tag for the project has ballooned to an estimated $7.5 million — including $6 million in public funds — from an original budget of $1.5 million. The memorial, originally started by the Conservative government of then-prime minister Stephen Harper, was supposed to be funded entirely through private donations. But taxpayers are now footing most of the bill as that private fundraising initiative fell far short when significant public financial support did not materialize.

In addition, a Holocaust education organization has warned that a large number of names that were to be inscribed on the memorial had links to the Nazis.

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center has pointed to a report prepared for the Department of Canadian Heritage which recommended more than half of the 550 names planned to go on the memorial be removed.

“What we want is a clear commitment from the minister that the names of those who helped the Nazis or were involved in the Holocaust not be honoured on this memorial,” Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center official Jaime Kirzner-Roberts said in a Dec. 3 interview. “We feel this is a very reasonable request and it is concerning we cannot get a simple answer.”

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The department had already determined that 50 to 60 of the names or organizations that were to go on the memorial were likely directly linked to the Nazis, according to the documents. A number of the entries should be removed because they had no direct link to Canada, the report also noted. As originally planned, there were to be 553 entries on the memorial’s Wall of Remembrance.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: A monumental controversy: History of the Memorial to Victims of Communism

Charles Thibault-Béland, a spokesperson for Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, said Dec. 3 that at this point there will be no names on the memorial. Department officials are still reviewing the backgrounds of the names and events to be commemorated.

Yvan Baker, the Liberal MP for Etobicoke Centre, will inaugurate the memorial, Canadian Heritage announced Dec. 10.

Federal officials in other departments have also continued to warn Canadian Heritage that the inclusion of Nazi collaborators on the memorial will cause international embarrassment.

“It is important to note that many anti-communist and anti-Soviet advocates and fighters were also active Nazi collaborators, who committed documented massacres,” Global Affairs Canada officials warned their counterparts at Canadian Heritage in 2021.

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Private donations had already been made to the monument in the names of Nazi collaborators, CBC News reported in July 2021. Those included Roman Shukhevych, a Ukrainian nationalist whose troops murdered Jews and Poles, and Ante Pavelić who ran a Nazi puppet regime in Croatia and is considered a chief perpetrator of the Holocaust in the Balkans, the CBC reported.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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