Jury's out on design for Ottawa's multi-million dollar 'victims of communism' monument

Ottawa's ceremonial route will soon have a new monument. A multi-million dollar memorial commemorating victims of communism will be built near Parliament Hill, in prime space near the Supreme Court and the Library and Archives buildings. A jury has whittled down a list of possible designs to six.

"Canada has been more than generous to me and it's been generous to as many as eight million Canadians, either directly or indirectly, who have been touched by the evils of communism," Ludwik Klimkowski , a jury member and chair of Tribute to Liberty , the charity organizing the monument project.

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The Ottawa Citizen reports that last year, the government initially promised $1.5 million for the project. Klimkowski tells As It Happens guest host Laura Lynch that figure has now doubled. In addition to donating the land, the federal government is spending $3 million on the project, split between Heritage Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The charity is aiming to raise an additional $2.5 million.

"Once the memorial is completed, we do expect it to stand there for generations to come."

Construction is expected to be completed by fall of 2015.

We received a lot of response to this story on Twitter (@cbcasithappens) and Facebook:

@cbcasithappens What? Really? Why? How much will this cost taxpayers? Who decides this? -- CCAA (@GlennPriestley1) August 26, 2014

@cbcasithappens This is such a load of political BS. People can be victims of the acts others- but not of *political systems* alone. -- Samuel McLean (@Canadian_Errant) August 26, 2014

@cbcasithappens omg, this sounds like an @TheOnion headline! -- Re-Coyle (@Michael_F_Coyle) August 26, 2014