OTTAWA — A Defence Department proposal to revamp the National War Memorial to honour Canadians who fought in Afghanistan has been shelved.
The plan, a copy of which was seen by The Canadian Press, involved etching the dates 2001-11 into the granite sides of the downtown monument that was first erected to honour the sacrifices of soldiers during the First World War.
The $2.1-million plan, which included the addition of an eternal flame to the existing monument in Ottawa, was circulated at National Defence headquarters last October.
The proposal also recommended a commemoration ceremony — preferably on Remembrance Day this November — that would involve the families of 157 soldiers who died during the combat mission, which concluded in Kandahar this summer.
It also suggested that the stone-and-marble memorial, erected behind the Canadian headquarters in Kandahar, be brought to Ottawa and reassembled at the Beechwood Cemetery, where many casualties of the Afghan campaign are buried.
A spokesman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay says it would be “inappropriate” to commemorate Afghanistan because the training mission, with its associated dangers, continues.