'Offensively tasteless' Mother Canada statue plan sparks outrage against PM

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/26/mother-canada-statue-nova-scotia-stephen-harper



Media and local residents lambaste Stephen Harper for offering financial support to erect a 10-storey statue overlooking the shore of a national park

'Offensively tasteless' Mother Canada statue plan sparks outrage against PM
John Baker in Toronto
Friday 26 June 2015 06.30 EDT

A plan to erect a 10-storey statue in a national park on one of Canada’s most scenic shorelines has prompted outrage and sparked a growing political row as the country heads towards a general election this fall.

The statue of Mother Canada – a cloaked female figure with her arms outstretched towards the Atlantic Ocean – is intended to honour the country’s soldiers who died overseas.

But growing anger over the plan has made it a new focus of opposition to the increasingly unpopular government of Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.

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The initiative gained early and enthusiastic support from the Harper government, which has donated the necessary public land and $100,000 from its parks budget to help erect the colossus on a rocky spit along the Cabot Trail, eastern Canada’s most popular scenic drive. The foundation hopes to raise $25m to complete the project, in part by selling corporate sponsorships that will be prominently acknowledged on the site.