Mother Canada: Reverent Memorial, or Monument to Profit and Patriotism?

Mother Canada is dividing the country. Contrived by Toronto businessman Tony Trigiani and his Never Forgotten National Memorial Foundation, the 24-metre statue to Canada's deceased soldiers, slated for construction at picturesque Green Cove in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, has secured the Harper government's endorsement along with a substantial bequest of public land and funds. While proponents claim not to understand the "fuss" being made over the project, the mounting backlash against the design and placement of the memorial is fierce, centred on the disquieting allegation that at its core Mother Canada has less to do with honouring Canadian soldiers than with the pursuit of profit and the diffusion of a crude patriotism.

The allegation has merit. In content and form, Mother Canada speaks to the messy amalgamation of commemoration and tourism, and the quest to squeeze ever more tourism dollars and nationalist sentiment from the memory of deceased combatants. Far from being an exclusively Canadian issue, these trends are part and parcel of a global heritage industry in which war remembrance and battlefield tourism have become central components. Consequently, the twin drives for profit and national pride have only intensified with the centennial of the First World War, emboldening politicians to invest grand sums in war remembrance and subcontract commemorative initiatives to private enterprises, often buttressed, as in the case of Mother Canada, by government subsidies.

Some argue that projects like Mother Canada are helpful, even vital for educating future generations about war and its role in shaping our nation. Others, Canadian veterans among them, say that despite the 6,696 acknowledged war memorials in Canada, more are needed to honour the memory of our veterans and deceased soldiers. Perhaps, but we would do well to question whether Mother Canada is aimed so squarely at achieving these goals.

A money-making memorial

For instance, what are we to make of the initiative's conspicuous aspiration for profit? Many residents in the vicinity of Green Cove are lauding it, excited about the potential boosts provided by tourists to local hotels, restaurants and businesses. This is understandable in a hard-hit economy, but it raises doubts about the integrity of Mother Canada as a wholesome memorial project. These misgivings are bolstered by proposals listed on the project website to affix to the memorial a visitor centre, parking lot, theatre, café, and a gift shop selling souvenirs and memorabilia. Furthermore, like a sports arena, the site will acknowledge and give naming rights and "ongoing marketing opportunities" to corporate donors looking to gain goodwill and promotional value from their financial investment. Even for those who vociferously defend the sacred cows of war remembrance, these propositions cannot help but come off as tawdry.

Adding fuel to the fire are claims -- by the Friends of Green Cove and former Parks Canada managers -- that the Harper regime has helped force the project through without proper public consultation and in violation of Green Cove's wilderness zone designation and Park Canada's mandate to preserve ecological integrity. This approach to commemoration makes little sense when constructing a memorial that is, in theory, supposed to unite the nation in communal veneration, and is especially troubling considering the government endowed the supposedly private scheme with one hectare of national park lands and $100,000 in Parks Canada funds. That taxpayer contribution could rise precipitously should the foundation fail in attracting enough private sponsorship for the estimated $25 to $60 million price tag.

Who does it serve?

A number of other facets are disconcerting, one being the edifice itself. An adapted and exaggerated version of the Canada Bereft memorial at Vimy in France, Mother Canada will appear as an 80-foot cloaked woman with arms extended towards the sea, beckoning to those Canadian soldiers who could never return home. It has been described by critics as a "monstrosity" style of art "best left to Stalinist tyrants, theme park entrepreneurs and insecure municipalities hoping to waylay bored drive-by tourists." There is also something particularly troubling about the ‘motherly' trope which, beyond the somewhat droll Mother Russia parallels, comes off as an ahistorical, anachronistic and insulting obfuscation of women's roles during wartime and their overall place in Canada at large.

The size and luridness of the memorial and its placement at Green Cove on the striking Cabot Trail suggests too that natural landscapes dear to Canadians, and indeed constitutive for many of Canadian identity itself, are considered in and of themselves not enough. It is not that these terrains fail in inspiring stories, but they lack specificity in this regard, obliging travellers' lingering presence. Many memorials have been designed to enhance such individualized experience, but Mother Canada does not fit this mold. Laden with patriotic directives on sacrifice and glory easily captured in the snap of a photograph, the structure appears as yet another attempt to dumb down the complexity of war for political advantage.

For example, despite the clear association to Vimy and the Great War, the space will also acknowledge a range of Canadian battles from both past and present. Recognizing Canada's contemporary conflicts could be taken as a nod of respect to today's soldiers. But it can also be seen as blatant politicization, a cynical attempt to legitimize the present regime's particular brand of muscular nationalism by linking it to the less controversial and more extolled conflicts of yore. Concretizing the Canadian national anthem at the site should also raise some eyebrows. What purpose does a Commemorative Ring of True Patriot Love, a True North Commemorative Square, and a With Glowing Hearts National Sanctuary serve other than to co-opt personal tragedy for national glory? That many soldiers sacrificed their lives for the nation is undoubted, but a great range of experiences and motivations beyond this common refrain existed too, and they are by and large missing from the memorial complex.

The Mother Canada project is not the first of its kind to be proposed. Nor will it be the last. By the end of the Great War centennial, many spaces once lauded for their simple splendour and capacity for inspiring solemn reflection will have been irrevocably altered to promote tourism and facile interpretations of the past. To be sure, they could very well draw significantly more visitors than before, enhancing the prosperity of communities in their vicinity. But much will be lost in the process. Mother Canada is set to be unveiled on Canada's 150th anniversary on July 1, 2017, and despite perceived efforts to fast-track the project, the battle over the memorial's construction is ongoing. At the very least then, we must continue debating what it is people hope to get out of this initiative, who exactly it serves and honours, how it impacts our environment, and the ways in which it refashions the remembrance of war and the millions of lives consumed by it.