The ‘Mother Canada’ Memorial Controversy

Here is the story of a ‘Mother Canada’ sculpture controversy 10 years on:

Originally envisaged for Cape Breton on the Atlantic coast as a tribute to members of the military, the project has long been shelved. But proponents are still pushing for it and there’s also a lawsuit.

The statue of Mother Canada, a cloaked female figure with her arms stretched to the east, was proposed as a transatlantic complement to Canada’s national memorial to fallen soldiers overseas. (Above: renderings of the Mother Canada statue and site, prepared by the Never Forgotten National Memorial Foundation here)

The 24-metre-tall statue would have pointed toward the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France. It was supposed to memorialize the thousands of Canadians and Indigenous service members who died in foreign countries, the majority of them never returned to Canada.

Below – Canada Bereft, aka Mother Canada, the key statue at Canada’s Vimy Memorial in France.

The idea was spearheaded by Toronto businessman Tony Trigiani, via the Never Forgotten National Memorial charitable organization. Initially approved by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, opposition grew in the lead-up to the 2015 election that saw Justin Trudeau’s Liberals win a majority. In early 2016, Parks Canada terminated the memorandum of understanding for the project.

After years of trying to resurrect the project, Trigiani sued Parks Canada in 2024 for breach of contract and acting in bad faith. The suit asks the court to order Parks Canada to proceed with building the memorial, or pay $6 million in damages. That dispute is unresolved.

The idea had plenty of high-profile supporters. But it has always generated opposition, due to the sanctity of Canada’s national parks, and the potential ecological damage to the sentitive Cape Breton environment. Some also feel the proposal is ugly and just plain wrong, as The Globe & Mail put it in an editorial:

. . . it’s offensively tasteless at the aesthetic level. The bigger-is-better approach to art is best left to Stalinist tyrants, theme-park entrepreneurs and insecure municipalities hoping to waylay bored drive-by tourists. In a hubristic act of arrogant unoriginality, Mother Canada is merely an oversized knock-off of the mournful Canada Bereft statue created for the 1936 Vimy Memorial . . .

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This short documentary (a film festival selection) reflects on the controversy : https://vimeo.com/235418548

The Never Forgotten National Memorial charity site, here.

Why the project is a dream that won’t die, here.

More about the Vimy Memorial, here.

Renderings at top of post show the Mother Canada and The Commemorative Ring of True Patriot Love memorial planned for Green Cove in Cape Breton Highlands National Park along the Cabot Trail.

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BACKGROUND ON VIMY RIDGE AND THE FALLEN SOLDIERS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9–12, 1917) resulted in 3,598 Canadian fatalities, with total casualties (killed and wounded) exceeding 10,600. The victory was a pivotal moment in Canadian history but came at a heavy cost. The Vimy Memorial in France also honors 11,285 Canadian soldiers killed in France who have no known grave. (More than 66,000 Canadians died in the First World War)

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial has 20 sculptures, the most well known is Canada Bereft—or as many call her, Mother Canada. Click here for a short spotlight piece on the sculptor behind it, Walter S. Allward.