The National Capital Commission has approved the name for a controversial monument commemorating the victims of “totalitarian communism.”
The monument in memory of 100 million deaths was approved in principle early last month, but the NCC expressed concerns at that time that the original title – “A Memorial to Victims of Totalitarian Communism” – could offend Canadian communists, members of a marginal but legally registered political party. On Sept. 22, the NCC decided that title could be approved with the addition of a sub-title: “Canada, a Land of Refuge.”
NCC official Sylvie Tilden explained that before the changes the NCC wanted the title to be more inclusive but it was nonetheless important the Canadian monument be built.
“It’s an important issue that touches so many Canadians,” she said. “It speaks to how Canada has acted as a land of refuge for many who have escaped or fled from different oppressive situations."
The memorial, which has no potential locations yet, is intended to commemorate people murdered or oppressed in countries ruled by totalitarian communist governments. However, Miguel Figueroa, National leader of the Communist Party of Canada, fears the project could end up being a “monumental insult” to communists.
The CPC is concerned the monument may reignite anti-communist sentiments in Canadians despite the fact that the communist party is the ruling government in parts of the world.
“It’s not just a question of our party, but of the situation in the world today. Communists are a part of governments. Sometimes they’re the [leading] governments in countries larger in population than Canada,” said Figueroa.
Figueroa says his party is very proud of the historic work they have done to fight for democracy and peoples’ rights in Canada and “it would be quite insulting” to go ahead with the first part of the name.
However, Carolyn Foster from Tribute to Liberty, the organization who proposed the monument, warned that the memorial couldn’t commemorate victims of communism without naming communism.
The Polish Ambassador to Canada, Piotr Ogrodzinski, expressed a similar sentiment by email.
“With all due respect to Canadian sensitivities we cannot change history. Many millions lost their lives because of the policies of communist regimes and we have to be also sensitive and remember the victims of these crimes.”
For example, he wrote, in the Katyn Forest Massacre of 1940, over 20,000 Polish officers and civilians were murdered under orders from the communist Soviet government.
“Many innocent Polish people perished because of Stalin during the communist rule in Poland. These are historical facts that will never be forgotten by Polish Canadians,” he wrote.
The Polish embassy is one of 14 embassies that wrote the NCC calling for the now approved monument to be built.
The memorial itself will be privately funded. “We are aiming for 1.5 million dollars [for the project],” says Foster. “We want it to be a rather large monument.”
There is no date set for the unveiling of the project, but the next step is a national design competition for the memorial’s artwork.