By Canadian Press

Feds hope to break deadlock with new location for Afghan war memorial

Mar 4, 2019 | 1:25 PM

OTTAWA — The federal government is hoping to lock down a new location for a promised national memorial for the war in Afghanistan after the Canadian War Museum opposed a previous proposal, leaving the five-year-old project in limbo.

A source in the Veterans Affairs Department tells The Canadian Press that the new site is across the street to the east of the Canadian War Museum and behind the National Holocaust Monument, near where the Ottawa River separates Ontario from Quebec.

A group of veterans recently toured the site with officials from Veterans Affairs, which asked the National Capital Commission in September 2017 to approve a location immediately west of the museum.

The commission refused to sign off on that location after the museum and its architect objected, saying the museum intentionally avoids emphasizing any one conflict and that the memorial would detract from the building.

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Veterans Affairs is now expected to ask the NCC to approve the new site in the coming weeks and, if it’s approved, the government will begin consultations with Afghan veterans and others on a design for the $5-million memorial.

The plan to erect a memorial to Canada’s war in Afghanistan was first announced by Stephen Harper’s government in May 2014 following the end of the 13-year mission, in which more than 160 Canadians were killed.

The Canadian Press