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The Conservative government is rejecting accusations that it is acting undemocratically by placing the memorial to victims of communism on a prominent site over the objections of local officials.
And on Friday, it showed no interest in picking a different the site, despite a growing chorus of objections in Ottawa.
Mayor Jim Watson, Ottawa-area MPs, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and others have asked the federal government to move the memorial to another site and away from its spot on Confederation Boulevard in front of the Supreme Court building.
The National Capital Commission had originally allocated space at the the Garden of the Provinces on Wellington Street to become home to the memorial.
“All parties support a memorial (to) those silenced by tyranny and honour those who fought for change, but Ottawa residents and their representatives were not consulted on the location, size and the design of the memorial,” local NDP MP Paul Dewar, whose riding includes the memorial site, said in the Commons.
“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.
The memorial consists of two main elements. One is a series of parallel concrete folds, rising above 14 metres at their tallest point, covered with 100 million “memory squares” representing lives lost to communist regimes worldwide. The other, called the Bridge of Hope, is a large, triangular viewing platform.
— With files from Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
jpress@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/jpress
查看原文...
And on Friday, it showed no interest in picking a different the site, despite a growing chorus of objections in Ottawa.
Mayor Jim Watson, Ottawa-area MPs, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and others have asked the federal government to move the memorial to another site and away from its spot on Confederation Boulevard in front of the Supreme Court building.
The National Capital Commission had originally allocated space at the the Garden of the Provinces on Wellington Street to become home to the memorial.
“All parties support a memorial (to) those silenced by tyranny and honour those who fought for change, but Ottawa residents and their representatives were not consulted on the location, size and the design of the memorial,” local NDP MP Paul Dewar, whose riding includes the memorial site, said in the Commons.
“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.
The memorial consists of two main elements. One is a series of parallel concrete folds, rising above 14 metres at their tallest point, covered with 100 million “memory squares” representing lives lost to communist regimes worldwide. The other, called the Bridge of Hope, is a large, triangular viewing platform.
— With files from Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
jpress@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/jpress
查看原文...
