Question Period Note: AFGHANISTAN MONUMENT

The National Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan will recognize the commitment and sacrifice of Canadian men and women who served in Afghanistan, as well as the support provided to them by Canadians at home.

On June 20, 2019, the National Capital Commission's Board of Directors granted Federal Land Use Approval for a site east of the Canadian War Museum on LeBreton Flats, in proximity to the National Holocaust Monument for the National Monument to Canada's Mission in Afghanistan.

We are continuing to work closely with Canadian Heritage and the National Capital Commission on next steps. Canadian Heritage, on behalf of Veterans Affairs Canada, launched the first phase of the design competition for the Monument in August 2019.

Throughout this project, the Government of Canada is engaging and consulting with a cross-section of stakeholders, including Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces members, police services members and others who participated in the whole of government mission, as well as families and Indigenous communities.

BACKGROUND – AFGHANISTAN MONUMENT
(NATIONAL MONUMENT TO CANADA’S MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN)

Statistics
Over 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces deployed to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014. Many Canadians died as a result of their service in Afghanistan, including Canadian Armed Forces members, a diplomat, foreign aid workers, a government contractor and a journalist. The mission in Afghanistan is Canada’s fifth most costly military engagement in terms of lives lost. Thousands of Canadian Armed Forces members were also injured—physically and psychologically—during the mission.

Project
On May 8, 2014, the Government of Canada announced that a monument will be built to commemorate Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. The project budget, which was included in Budget 2014, is five million dollars. Veterans Affairs Canada is the project proponent funding this initiative, whereas Canadian Heritage—the federal department responsible for national monuments on federal lands in Canada’s Capital Region—is the project manager and the National Capital Commission—responsible for design and land use approval on federal lands in the Capital—is responsible for project implementation and will assume ownership of the monument upon its completion.
Determining the most appropriate site for the Monument has been critical (e.g. visibility, accessibility, etc.); site feasibility studies and stakeholder consultations have been an important part of the process. In 2019, the National Capital Commission Board approved the site located across from the Canadian War Museum on LeBreton Flats.

Next Steps
Now that the Monument location has been confirmed, we continue to work closely with Canadian Heritage and the National Capital Commission on next steps. Canadian Heritage launched a design competition (Request for Qualifications) in the summer of 2019. Consultations with Veterans, families and other stakeholders are being planned for early 2020 that will help inform the design guidelines being established for the second phase of the design competition (Request for Proposals). This will be followed by design development (2021), construction (2022-2023), and monument inauguration (Fall 2023).

Other Memorials
A separate Kandahar Airfield Memorial, built to honour the memory of the fallen during Canada’s campaign in Afghanistan, was repatriated to Canada at the end of the mission and is now permanently housed within a purpose-built pavilion—named Afghanistan Memorial Hall—at the National Defence Headquarters Carling Campus in Ottawa. In addition, the Ontario provincial government has announced its plans to proceed with a memorial within the legislative precinct at Queen’s Park, which will recognize Canada’s fallen from the war in Afghanistan as well as the attacks on September 11, 2001. While these memorials recognize those who served in Afghanistan, they are separate initiatives from the National Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan and we have no involvement.

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