Thanks, but no tanks: historian

October 21, 2015 · 0 Comments

(Re: Tank, tulips to transform Cenotaph park. October 15)

I regret that I somehow missed the initial mention of the proposal to place a Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) in the park at the cenotaph. By the time I sent the letter below to all Councillors, the decision had been made.
Now that more citizens are aware of this plan, perhaps there will be an outcry and the plan will be changed. Here is what I wrote:
“The placement of an armoured vehicle in a Peace Park seems ironic, to say the least. When these parks were first designated in 1992 they were to be “Places for Peace” (to read more about them see the Peace Parks across Canada web page at www.iipt.org/newsletter/2007/images/PeaceParksProject.pdf).
“These vehicles are not just armoured, they are armed. They bear weapons which are there to kill people, even if only in self-defence. Do we want to commemorate the sad fact that such vehicles are needed, that we have not found a way to avoid war?
“Put the LAV next to the old drill shed or armoury, if need be, although I believe this or a similar proposal was successfully opposed by neighbourhood residents some years ago.
“Please reconsider placing such a strong symbol of war and of the violence of death in war in the Peace Park, near the cenotaph which is all about remembering with regret all the local lives lost to war.
“But bring on the tulips!”

Jacqueline Stuart
Aurora