Reconciliation- The Peacekeeping Monument, Ottawa

Reconciliation: The Peacekeeping Monument is a

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, the capital of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, commemorating Canada's role in international

peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare. Within the United N ...

and the soldiers who have participated and are currently participating, both living and dead. It is located between St. Patrick Street and Murray Street, in the centre of the intersection where they meet Mackenzie Avenue and

Sussex Drive Sussex Drive (french: Promenade Sussex), also known as Ottawa Regional Road93, is an arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada. It is one of the city's main ceremonial and institutional routes. Travelling roughly parallel to the Ott ...

; this places it just south of the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

and just north of the American Embassy and

Major's Hill Park Major's Hill Park is a park in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. The park stands above the Rideau Canal at the point where it enters the Ottawa River. The parliament buildings can be seen across the canal to the west, to the north of the park is the Nat ...

. Artist Jack Harman built the three soldiers with architects Richard and

Gregory Henriquez Gregory Henriquez (born 1963) is a Canadian architect who has designed community-based mixed-use projects in Vancouver, Toronto and Seattle. He is the managing principal of Vancouver-based Henriquez Partners Architects, founded in 1969 by his fat ...

designing the site concept and monument structures.

Cornelia Oberlander Cornelia Hahn Oberlander (20 June 1921 – 22 May 2021) was a German-born Canadian landscape architect. Her firm, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Landscape Architects, was founded in 1953, when she moved to Vancouver. During her career she contribu ...

was the landscape architect. The monument was completed in 1992. The work, entitled ''Reconciliation'', depicts three peacekeeping soldiers — two men and a woman — standing on two ridges of stone which cut through the broken debris of war and converge at a high point, which symbolizes the resolution which peacekeeping brings. The base of the monument includes

Lester Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...

's 1956 quote "We need action not only to end the fighting but to make the peace... My own government would be glad to recommend Canadian participation in such a United Nations force, a truly international peace and police force", as well as the French translation.Peacekeeping Monument
/ref> In 1995, the Monument was commemorated on the year's $1 coin, following the 1994 commemoration of the National War Memorial.

References

National Capital Commission - Reconciliation: The Peacekeeping Monument
{{Anti-war Gough, P.J. (2002) ''‘Invicta Pax’ Monuments, Memorials and Peace ; an analysis of the Canadian Peacekeeping Monument, Ottawa'', International Journal of Heritage Studies, 8, 3. pp. 201–223, ISSN 1352-7258. Canadian military memorials and cemeteries Monuments and memorials in Ottawa Military history of Canada Peace monuments and memorials

See also

References