Just What Should A Cenotaph Represent?

By Ben Meisner

You could see it in the eyes of those vets who attended a meeting at City Hall to discuss the new,"Spirit Square" funding that the city will receive.   They are worried the cenotaph's significance will be lost on the plan to upgrade the "Veteran's Plaza".

Basically the City will receive one half million dollars towards the square providing that native art is included in the new project.

That brought a comment from one vet who was attending the session that to do that in the area of the cenotaph would recognize one group of people over the other. He said all who served are recognized at the present cenotaph. "Someone,"  he said, "should tell the First Nations that it is their cenotaph too" He motioned to the plaque honoring those who died in the Second World war, and  pointed out the name of an aboriginal soldier.

If the Province is hoping to drop a "Race" card into the mix, it will clearly do that with the proviso that in order to receive money for a new layout, native art must be included. Even the local 1^st Nations turned down the idea of totem poles around the site saying totem poles were not a part of their culture.

It is a fast way for the Province to alienate those vets who remain committed to their fellow service man or woman whatever their color, race, or religion would be. It is the very essence under which those cenotaphs have been constructed.

To add insult to injury, if the present cenotaph is in need of repair (which it is), the City could simply apply for funding from the Department Of Veteran Affairs, the arm of government that they no doubt will seek funding from without changing dramatically the cenotaph as it now sits.

City Council is paying $78 thousand dollars  to a Vancouver consulting firm which proposes to look at the site with a view to making it more people friendly. They seem to think that by adding benches and other works that the street people who regularly shoot up on the city hall grounds will go away. Problem is that the City has zoned the street people into that section of the City and if there were a burning desire to get rid of them from the area they would not have to change the grounds of city hall to do it.

If this isn’t an election issue it should be, because the basis under which this City is seeking the funds is suspect at best.

I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.   

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