Question Period Note: AFGHANISTAN MONUMENT

AFGHANISTAN MONUMENT
(National Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan)

• 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.

• In August 2020, Veterans Affairs Canada and Canadian Heritage jointly announced the five teams selected to develop design concepts for the National Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan.

• We continue to work closely with Canadian Heritage and the National Capital Commission on next steps.

• 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.

• While this initiative continues to be a priority, some milestones and next steps in the project may be impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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

Statistics
Over 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) deployed to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014. Many Canadians died as a result of their service in Afghanistan, including CAF 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 CAF members were also injured—physically and psychologically—during the mission.

Project
On 8 May 2014, the Government of Canada announced that a monument would 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 (VAC) is the project proponent funding this initiative, whereas Canadian Heritage is the project manager and the National Capital Commission is responsible for project implementation and will assume ownership of the monument upon its completion.

Determining the most appropriate site for the Monument was critical (i.e. visibility, accessibility, etc.), with site feasibility studies and stakeholder consultations having comprised an important part of the process. In June 2019, the National Capital Commission Board of Directors approved the site located across from the Canadian War Museum on LeBreton Flats.

In August 2019, Canadian Heritage launched Phase one of the design competition, which invited teams of professional artists, architects, landscape architects, and other urban design professionals to submit their qualifications for consideration. In May 2020, five finalist design teams were selected by the seven-member independent jury established for the design competition process. VAC and Canadian Heritage jointly issued a news release on 24 August 2020, announcing the names of these teams.

In early 2020, VAC consulted with stakeholders on design considerations for the Monument. Over 4,000 people responded to an online survey, with 72% having a connection to Canada’s military and/or the mission in Afghanistan. Two in-person consultations were held. The first meeting included members of the VAC Ministerial Commemoration Advisory Group as well as representatives of organizations that took part in the whole-of-government mission. The second meeting included representatives of the Algonquin of Pikwakanagan First Nation and the Algonquin of Kitigan Zibi Anishinaabe First Nation. Feedback received from these consultations helped inform the development of design guidelines, which helped the finalist design teams in developing their concepts for phase two of the design competition. Results of these consultations were made public on VAC’s website on 4 June 2020.

From 20 May to 9 June 2021, Canadian Heritage coordinated an online viewing and survey on the finalist design concepts. More than 10,000 responses were received and results will be published on the Canadian Heritage website when the winning design is announced.

Next Steps
The competition jury met in early November to review the finalist teams’ design concepts. An announcement on the winning design will be made once appropriate procurement steps have been completed as part of the notification of the winning team.

The monument is expected to be inaugurated in late 2024, however, the fluidity of the COVID-19 situation may affect project timelines.

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