e-3074 (Culture and heritage)

Petition to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change

• More than 114,000 of our fallen, in war and conflicts serving Canada, are buried overseas or have no known grave;
• Many descendants, and relatives are unable to visit the final resting places of those fallen, or the monuments to their sacrifice, because of cost or travel restrictions;
• With encouragement from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Never Forgotten National Memorial Foundation (NFNMF) developed a vision for a fitting monument at Green Cove, in Cape Breton National Park, on its eastern shore, to those Canadians who died helping preserve our freedoms;
• It depicts Mother Canada welcoming home to Canada, the souls of these 114,000 fallen;
• Being in Canada, this will be an accessible memorial that descendants and relatives of the fallen can visit;
• A Parks Canada License of Occupation is needed by NFNMF for a fundraising campaign to construct this monument;
• Parks Canada conditions, before this license could be issued, were the agreement of the Confederation of Mi’kmaq, (completed May 2015), a detailed impact analysis, (completed February 2016), and proof of $30 million Phase 1 funding, with 5% for the maintenance for the first year (this was being negotiated, as NFNMF would not do public fundraising without a license to build); and
• Parks Canada didn’t issue the license, and withdrew from the negotiating table, so NFNMF was blocked from raising the funds for the monument.