Government favours traditional ‘war memorial’ for 1812 monument, artist says

OTTAWA — The federal government wants its new War of 1812 monument to be a traditional 19th century war memorial rather than a piece of contemporary public art with a message of peace, says a Toronto sculptor who entered the design competition.

Eldon Garnet was of the six finalists chosen last December by the competition jury. But his design and those of three other artists were eliminated last week when the jury abruptly cut the number of finalists to two.

Why does Parliament Hill need a monument to the War of 1812?

There are few patches of grass in Canada, maybe none, more prominent than the slope by Parliament’s East Block. The building itself is the most intriguing of our Parliament Buildings, asymmetrical and gloweringly gothic. Its lawn overlooks Confederation Square and the National War Memorial, the somber, affecting centerpiece of our Remembrance Day ceremonies.

Government cancels public viewing of designs for War of 1812 monument

OTTAWA — The Department of Canadian Heritage abruptly cancelled a planned public unveiling of six competing designs for a prominent new monument to the War of 1812 on Parliament Hill.

Models produced by the six finalists were to have been exhibited Thursday as part of a “public vernissage,” according to a December 2012 news release from the National Capital Commission, which is partnering with Canadian Heritage on the high-profile project.

War Of 1812 Website's Exit Most Popular Page After Arriving

OTTAWA - The splashy home pages for the Harper government's elaborate War of 1812 website were by far the most popular feature for visitors who crowded into the online museum last year, thanks to an ad blitz during the Olympics.

The next most popular page? The exit.

Spending on 1812 anniversary odd in an era of cuts

I learned about Tecumseh in elementary school, then promptly forgot about him for half a century.

Stephen Harper wants me to brush up on my War of 1812 facts, to celebrate anew the likes of the native American leader of the Shawnee who took our side in the dispute with the Yanks.

In a curious spending decision, the Harper government announced a while back it was allocating $28 million in funds for 1812 commemoration - to be spent by next March on everything from coins and stamps to museum exhibits.

Canadian Heritage spends $1.45-million on one War of 1812 TV ad during Olympics, feds spend $8-million total to commemorate British-U.S. war

PARLIAMENT HILL—The Conservative government has lavished nearly $8-million since April, 2011, on promoting the War of 1812 anniversary this year, from millions of dollars for costly TV advertising to more than $1,000 in wine bottle neck ties.

The Canadian Heritage department was the biggest spender, paying $1.45-million to CTV for prime time space to broadcast one War of 1812 ad during the summer Olympic Games, with a further $1.2-million bill for the ad’s planning and production costs.

Who cares about 1812 and all that?

Why would anyone go out of their way to commemorate the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain?

It was a minor, messy set of skirmishes, fought mostly by incompetents, which generated relatively few casualties and had inconclusive results. No one quite agrees on who won the war, and perhaps the best that can be said about it is that it began two hundred years of peace between the two greatest English-speaking powers. Perhaps we should be celebrating the long peace rather than the brief war.

Canada Puts Spotlight on War of 1812, With U.S. as Villain

DUNVEGAN, Ontario — Although it produced “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the War of 1812 does not get much attention in the United States. In Canada, however, the federal government is devoting surprising attention to the bicentennial of the conflict, which it describes bluntly in a new television commercial as an act of American aggression against Canada.

 Much about the war is fiercely debated by historians but one thing is clear: Canada was not yet a country at the time of the war, which pitted the United States against the British.

11 Conservative MPs and a Senator Say Exactly the Same Quote About the War of 1812 At the Same Time

Friday was the day for news releases from the Conservative government about its ongoing War of 1812 celebrations.

Conservative MPs and a senator fanned out in eastern Canada to partake in taxpayer-funded gatherings.

No details on the cost but one Defence Watch reader who attended said he a nice time having refreshments and such. The receptions are being funded out of the $30 million fund the Conservatives set aside for celebrating the War of 1812.

The news releases started pouring in Friday afternoon, one after another at one minute intervals. The fascinating thing was how 11 Conservative MPs and a senator can all say exactly the same thing.

Rob Anders Newsletter Slammed By Canadian Islamic Congress For Comparing 'Islamic Terrorism' With War Of 1812

Tory MP Rob Anders is under fire for comparing the War of 1812 with "Islamic terrorism" in a newsletter to constituents.

The Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) issued a statement Wednesday condemning Anders after HuffPost Canada reported on the mail-out from the MP for Calgary West.

Tories plan War of 1812 monument on Parliament Hill

The Liberal prime minister who famously declared the 20th century would belong to Canada will soon be sharing a corner of Parliament Hill with a new Conservative government monument to the 19th century.

As part of a nearly $30-million spending binge to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, the Tories are erecting a memorial to the long-ago conflict that pitted the United States against what would later become Canada.

Rob Anders Newsletter Compares 1812 Conflict To 'Warfare Against Islamic Terror'

Besides napping, Tory MP Rob Anders is well-known for taking controversial positions. But on the War of 1812?

In a recent newsletter, the MP compares the 1812 conflict to "the last 10 years of warfare against Islamic terrorism."

While it may be odd to compare such very different wars, what is perhaps more surprising is the choice of the phrase "Islamic terrorism."

War Of 1812 Poll Finds That, Despite Ad, Canadians Have No Clue About Conflict

OTTAWA - There was a war in 1812? Really?

The Harper government has been highlighting a war with our American neighbours 200 years ago, but the relevance of commemorating the event seemed lost on almost all of those who participated in a comprehensive survey for National Defence.

The poll, conducted annually, measures impressions of the Canadian military, its missions, equipment and important events.

War of 1812 ads during Olympic television coverage cost $1.64-million

PARLIAMENT HILL—Taxpayers paid $1.64-million for a series of militaristic advertisements Canadian Heritage placed on CTV during its Olympic Games coverage to promote the War of 1812’s 200th anniversary, The Hill Times has learned.

Opposition MPs, who last week criticized the decision by the federal government to place ads promoting a war anniversary during Olympics coverage, further berated the public relations decision when they were informed of the price tag on Monday.

Opposition MPs criticize government's War of 1812 ads during Olympics, 'smacks of militaristic jingoism'

PARLIAMENT HILL—Opposition MPs say Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has crossed a line with its anniversary events marking the War of 1812—by buying costly advertising space to promote the militaristic anniversary through television coverage of young Canadian athletes competing at the Olympic Games.

The “Fight for Canada” images depicting Canadian and military heroes from the war sparked by a U.S. invasion of Canada 200 years ago have appeared frequently through CTV coverage of the Olympics, including the gritty soccer match between U.S. and Canadian women’s teams that sparked a storm of controversy and Canadian anger at disputed referee calls.

The real legacy of 1812? It never happened again

Canada, as a nation of immigrants (many of them recently arrived), is constantly reinventing itself. Part of this is an ongoing effort to reinvent the past, so as to make it fit with a desired present and a hoped-for future. Our current government is doing this, at least in English Canada, around a 1950s ideal of deference to the monarchy and to a military legacy that most Canadians do not know much about.

While this may not be to everyone’s taste, there is nothing inherently Conservative in trying to manipulate the past for political purposes. The Liberals spent many years trying to create an image of Canada that revolved around supposedly historic attachments to concepts of multiculturalism and “peacekeeping,” both of them frequently misunderstood ideas that had little to do with Canadian history until relatively recently.

First Nations Omitted From War Of 1812 Re-Enactment

Actors dressed in period costumes helped bring the War of 1812 theme alive at the Tall Ships Festival in Halifax, but the re-enactment left out Canada's aboriginal allies.

Professional re-enactors hired by Parks Canada marched on the Halifax waterfront as if braced for an American attack, but no one represented the First Nations soldiers who fought for the British colony.

Canadian soldiers get pins, banners to mark War of 1812 anniversary

Canada’s soldiers, sailors and air personnel are being drafted in Ottawa’s commemoration of the War of 1812 and starting Thursday will wear a pin recalling the 200-year-old conflict with the United States.

The pin has a blue background and features a red maple leaf with two crossed cutlasses.

Canadian Forces members will be authorized to include it on their uniforms for three years.

Peter MacKay takes liberties with history in Bastille Day speech

Defence Minister Peter MacKay has been getting attention for what some are calling his novel reworking of the War of 1812 — one where the French were apparently fighting side-by-side with the British in battling the American invaders.

There is only one problem with that, say those who attended MacKay’s speech at the French embassy in Ottawa last week. The French supported the Americans in the War of 1812.

Playing at a theatre near you: Ottawa’s shock-and-awe film on War of 1812

When the Harper government set out to commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812, it promised to celebrate a formative event without stirring up anti-American sentiment.

A new government video advertisement designed to educate Canadians about the conflict throws all that nuance out the window.

To borrow a phrase from the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, Ottawa’s “Fight For Canada” ad turns the dial up to 11.