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Canada Unveils National War of 1812 Statue in Ottawa The War of 1812 Magazine Issue 23, February 2015 Canada Unveils National War of 1812 Statue on Parliament Hill in Ottawa By Donald E. Graves Generally speaking, Canada has not commemorated its War of 1812 heroes and heroines with statuary. A major exception is the magnificent memorial to Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, which towers over the Niagara Escarpment and can be construed as a gigantic finger pointed at nearby America. The Valiants Memorial, near the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Canada's capital, does contain a bust of Brock and life size statues of Laura Secord, the national heroine, and Colonel Charles de Salaberry, the victor of the 1813 battle of Châteauguay. That these three persons have been commemorated is not surprising because—along with the Shawnee chief Tecumseh (who was not born on Canadian soil —they constitute the "Fab Four" of the Canadian War of 1812 who are sure to be included in any book aimed at schools or documentary films funded by government agencies. This being said, the Bicentenary of the War of 1812 prompted the federal government to create a national monument in Ottawa. Its purpose was to be "a dynamic national tribute to the spirit, courage and bravery, of those who served and successfully defended their land in the fight for Canada." So far, so good but there is an old saying that an elephant is a mouse designed by a committee and of no endeavour is this more true than one involving bureaucrats. Instead of choosing a symbol such as the beaver, a large, semi-aquatic and obsessive rodent that is the national Copyright War of 1812 Magazine, 2015 The War of 1812 Magazine Issue 23, February 2015 symbol, to represent the heroism of those Canadians who fought during the war (why not a beaver rampant?), the committee that set the design terms for the memorial chose the theme, "Triumph through Diversity." "Diversity" and "inclusiveness" are this decade's "buzz words" in the federal bureaucracy and, of course, diversity means a lot of different groups have to be represented. And, for sure, they were. Canada's national 1812 memorial is located on Parliament Hill, on the eastern side of the Parliament Buildings (similar to the Houses of Parliament in Britain) and consists of seven bronze figures, each about six feet high, sculpted by Adrian Alison, a very accomplished Toronto artist. The figures are arranged in a rough circle on three granite plinths, two of which represent boats. It takes a while to get used to this arrangement, which on first viewing, rather resembles the remnants of Napoleon's Grande Armée trying to cross the frozen Berezina River in Russia just as the ice breaks. The seven figures are as follows: a Royal Navy seaman pulling a rope; a Canadian militiaman waving his round hat in triumph; a Canadian Voltigeur having his arm bandaged by a woman; an aboriginal warrior pointing to the distance; a man of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment representing the efforts of both Canadian and British regulars and, finally, a Métis river boatman firing a carronade. Despite my critical comments about the purpose and size of the memorial, the more one looks at it, the more one appreciates it. Since the figures are only about three feet off the ground, they are of a scale and a proximity that make them more real and their lifelike sculpting is excellent. At first I was concerned that placing the figures on such low plinths would make them vulnerable to vandalism until I recalled that Parliament Hill is probably the most heavily-policed area in Canada. Copyright War of 1812 Magazine, 2015 The War of 1812 Magazine Issue 23, February 2015 The memorial is only a few feet from busy Wellington Street, Canada's equivalent of Pennsylvania Avenue, and not more than 300 feet from the National War Memorial. I think that, in the future, it will become a popular stopping spot for tourists and its proximity to the War Memorial where a soldier on ceremonial guard duty was murdered by an Islamic terrorist last autumn is a sober reminder that war and conflict continued on past 1815 and are still with us today. Copyright War of 1812 Magazine, 2015 .
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