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Watson says he also criticized the group for its poor record of public consultation. “I wasn’t being rude but I told them, ‘This is a case study in how not to get the community onside,’” the mayor said.

“You’re taking what should be a positive event, namely the unveiling of a new monument, and turning it into a very negative event because of the process, or lack of process, you followed to get us here.”

Watson said he wasn’t sure if the pair were listening to him at first, but by the end of the meeting they appeared to understand that it’s “highly unlikely” the monument will be built at the current proposed location, especially considering the opposition of newly elected Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna. (Watson was quick to note that McKenna’s predecessor, Paul Dewar, was also outspoken in his opposition to the proposed location.)

Had the Conservatives been re-elected with a majority last week, Watson said the project “would have gone ahead full steam,” so the Liberal victory brought with it a huge sense of relief with regards to this project.

“This will basically put the brakes on this site,” he said.

The mayor’s version of last Friday’s meeting is somewhat at odds with a post on Tribute to Liberty’s Facebook page, where Klimkowski called the meeting with Watson “very productive” and said the two sides “exchanged ideas and discussed steps of further co-operation.”

Contacted late Monday afternoon, Klimkowski told the Citizen that McLachlin’s opposition to the memorial “was about this horrific image of the victims of Katyn Forest (massacre). So I was kind of disappointed that (Watson) used her as one of the opponents of the memorial and its location when in fact it wasn’t her intention.”

Klimkowski also pointed out that the most recent plans for the memorial is smaller than the first design, and would “preserve a nice, decent park int he middle of this beautiful city of ours,” adding that, “this is no longer about the legacy of Stephen Harper, as some of the opponents suggested. It is really about hard-working fellow Canadians who want to say thank you to Canada and Canadians.”

Canadian Heritage, which is overseeing the project, would only say that “an update on this memorial project will be provided in due course.”

— With files from Don Butler