TORONTO, September 11, 2009—At a public board meeting yesterday the National Capital Commission (NCC) approved in principle the application to build a monument on national capital region land to the more than 100 million victims of totalitarian communism, submitted by Tribute to Liberty with founding partner The Open Book Group.

The NCC confirmed that the revised submission “largely meets” NCC's recommendations, but requested further discussion on the name to broaden the scope of the memorial. The NCC Board voted to strike a small committee which will work with the project proponents on this effort, in order to clarify their concerns.

“We consider this to be a step forward on this very important project. I would like to express my thanks for the attention the NCC has given this project, and I look forward to working closely with them to see the memorial built,” says Alide Forstmanis, Tribute to Liberty Board Chair.

Zuzana Hahn, founder of The Open Book Group, noted the NCC's desire to work closely with the project proponents as “something we will take very seriously and pursue promptly to make this project happen. Millions of Canadians have been affected in unique and profound ways and this monument seeks to document their experiences.”

Charlie Coffey, Honorary Chair of the initiative, highlighted this last point, commenting that “we often lose sight of the need to address particular historic incidents because in doing so we might not address others. This is a mistake. The experience of people under import and has had profound implications for many, many Canadians. This needs to be highlighted.”

A diverse range of communities in Canada are involved in the project, including Chinese, Cuban, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Korean, Latvian, Mennonite, Polish, Slovenian, Tibetan, Ukrainian and Vietnamese, among others. Over 8 million Canadians trace their roots—and many their own lives—to countries that lived or live under Communism.

The National Capital Commission is the government agency that oversees the use and development of national capital region land.

Carolyn Foster
Project Coordinator
Tribute to Liberty

Märkmed: