The Never Forgotten National Memorial ( NFNM ), was to be proudly built at Green Cove, in the Cape Breton National Park, to honour the more than 114,000 Canadians who have fallen in the service of Canada and who are buried overseas, or have no known grave. It hit a political roadblock in the immediate months following the 2015 election with Parks Canada’s subsequent withdrawal from its MOU with the NFNM Foundation which effectively cancelled the License of Occupation (aka Building Permit) necessary to allow the Foundation to publicly raise the necessary funds for the national monument. Up to that point; the enthusiastic support of the Minister of the Environment, the successful completion of the Detailed Impact Assessment ( DIA ), and the signed agreement of the Federation of Mi’kmaq, were all properly in place. The NFNM Foundation, however, could not in good conscience, conduct/start national (as well as international) fundraising for this national monument, without a Building Permit.
See also, below, the wording of Petition e-3074, and the attached pictures of the planned national memorial. Your support for the petition is vital to constructing this national monument.
Petition to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change
Whereas:
· 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.
We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the minister of Environment and Climate Change to return to the bargaining table and issue a License of Occupation by year end 2021 to allow fundraising to begin the Never Forgotten National Memorial.
