Supporters of Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ National Monument say the groundbreaking ceremony held in May kicking off construction of the Ottawa project was a significant and satisfying milestone on a long journey to justice.
The $14-million monument is being financed by the LGBT Purge Fund, created though proceeds of a 2018 class action settlement between LGBT+ advocates and the federal government.
The settlement was an acknowledgement the government harassed and fired LGBT+ members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP and the federal public service between the 1950s and mid-1990s.
The monument, called Thunderhead, was designed by Winnipeg-based Public City Architecture, Indigenous elder Albert McLeod and artists Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan. Pomerleau is the construction manager.
Completion is targeted for the summer of 2025. Canadian Heritage and the National Capital Commission are overseeing the build.
Law was ‘instrument of oppression’
Ontario human rights lawyer Douglas Elliott of Cambridge LLP was lead lawyer for the class action lawsuit and attended the May 1 groundbreaking.
He said the site on National Capital Commission parkland (and traditional Anishinabe Algonquin Nation territory) along the Ottawa River, with views of the Supreme Court of Canada building, is meaningful.
“In my younger years the law was an instrument of our oppression,” said Elliott, recalling the death by cardiac arrest of diplomat John Watkins in 1964 following intense questioning by the RCMP. “When I was in law school, we had the infamous bathhouse raids in Toronto. I grew up in an era with a lot of persecution and discrimination.
“So the notion that one day there was going to be a monument in our nation’s capital to our community’s struggle for human rights would have seemed preposterous when I was young. And frankly, it was a bit surreal for me to be there, seeing it all taking shape.”
The monument will feature a cylindrical column that is broken apart by a thunderhead cloud from within, symbolic of the efforts of LGBT+ communities to break barriers and demand justice and equality, explain the designers. Inside, thousands of mirrored tiles reflect diverse identities. In Anishinabe teachings, thunderclouds are home to the Thunderers, whose storms renew the land.
“We think this is a beautiful design,” said LGBT Purge Fund executive director Michelle Douglas, who was a member of the jury that selected the Thunderhead concept from among five finalists.
“This will be a gathering place. This will be a place for reflections but also celebration that we have moved through the hard times and demonstrated our resilience.”
The glass tiles call to mind the design of a disco ball, said Douglas.
“There’s power and strength in the design,” she said. “There’s also a medicinal garden and a healing circle that calls to mind the power and strength of Indigenous communities.”
Elliott remarked, “I think it’s elegant, moving, funny. There’s great Indigenous content and space for celebrations, space for contemplation. I think it’s really a brilliant design and I hope Canadians really enjoy it.”
Victim of Purge
Douglas herself was a victim of the LGBT Purge. She served as an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces from 1986 to 1989 but was honourably discharged from the military in 1989 under its purge.
“For more than 30 years I have worked with many others to pursue equality and justice for the 2SLGBTQI+ community,” she said. “Knowing that there will be a national monument standing beautiful, tall and strong in the shadow of Parliament Hill means so much to me and so much to our community.”
The lawsuit was launched in 2016, with Elliott recalling a first meeting with LGBT+ advocate Martine Roy, now the chair of the board of directors of the LGBT Purge Fund, at the Chateau Laurier Hotel. The settlement with the government was achieved in 2018.
“She asked me, did I think we can do something about this,” said Elliott. “I said yes.
“I never dreamed that that ‘something’ might include this magnificent monument that’s going to be there forever for future generations.”
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