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That the proposed Memorial to the Victims of Communism is a monumental folly is no longer in question. Its location and design have been denounced by virtually every independent authority. No wonder it has ignited a swelling chorus of derision.

Critics include the Institute of Planners, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the Ontario Association of Architects. They include a member of the memorial jury (Shirley Blumberg), the original designer (Zuzana Hahn) and a leading Ottawa architect (Barry Padolsky).

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The most notable are the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and the mayor of Ottawa, as well Paul Dewar, the NDP MP for Ottawa Centre, and Catherine McKenna, the Liberal Party candidate in the riding.

Quick now, what sensible person doesn’t oppose this calamity? It leaves only two questions: how did this happen and what can be done about it?

Don Butler ably explains its origins in an article in Citizen last weekend. In forensic detail, he describes the mismanagement, partisanship and deception that produced the wrong monument in the wrong place.