A war memorial unveiled in 2022 to honour fallen Canadian Armed Forces members has sparked controversy for listing individuals who are still alive, non-combatants, and veterans who died of natural causes long after their service. Blacklock's Reporter says Veterans Affairs officials on Wednesday distanced the department from the monument’s flawed design and selection process, which has left veterans and their families outraged.“We received a number of complaints,” said Steven Harris, assistant deputy minister for Veterans Affairs, during a Commons veterans affairs committee hearing. “We are currently working with the organizers of the monument to glean more information about what they are going to do to resolve these issues. I don’t have a final answer.”The memorial, located in Port Hope, Ont., and subsidized by a $3 million federal grant as part of the Highway of Heroes project, features the names of 67 individuals described as having made “the ultimate sacrifice.” However, Veterans Affairs Canada said it was not involved in approving the names or the criteria used for their inclusion.“The department is aware of this issue,” said spokesperson Marc Lescoutre. “Veterans Affairs Canada was not asked to validate the list of names.”Among those named is Capt. Helene Le Scelleur, an Afghan War veteran and social worker who is very much alive. Bloc Québécois MP Luc Desilets (Riviere-des-Mille-Iles, Que.) said Le Scelleur personally contacted him about the error.“I know Captain Le Scelleur,” Desilets told the committee. “Her name is on the monument. She contacted me and said, ‘I’m not dead. I am very much alive.’ I spoke to her this morning.”Desilets also noted that other names on the monument include high-profile living veterans like Major-General (Ret’d) Lewis MacKenzie, 84, and Lieutenant-General (Ret’d) Romeo Dallaire, 78. Additionally, several honourees never saw combat, including Mary Wong, a volunteer with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps, and Heather Erxleben, the first woman to join the infantry in 1989.“The problem is of those 67 people, there are only 20 who died in service,” said Desilets. “Four never wore a uniform.” He added that the list includes civilian Laura Secord, who lived to 93 after her role in the War of 1812, and war heroes who died of natural causes decades after their service, such as World War One Victoria Cross recipient Smokey Smith, who passed away at 91, and Filip Konowal, a Victoria Cross recipient and former House of Commons janitor who died in 1959.Desilets criticized the lack of oversight in compiling the names, calling the situation a “major mistake.”“A simple name check of the 67 who ‘paid the ultimate sacrifice’ would have uncovered the mistakes,” said Desilets. “This is unacceptable negligence. It shows a lack of respect for veterans and their families.”“How can we claim to honour those who gave everything while botching to this extent a project that should be a model of recognition?” he asked. “This fiasco raises serious questions.”Veterans Affairs did not comment on whether further accountability measures would be taken, as frustrations mount over what critics have described as a profound failure to properly honour Canada’s war dead.
