The Globe and Mail

One year after the Ontario government announced a design competition for a veterans' memorial, Premier Dalton McGuinty has decided to suddenly switch the site from a prominent downtown corner to a shrouded zone at Queen's Park. The news has struck a bitter chord for the hundreds of architects, artists and team consultants who produced their designs in good faith. The bizarre subterfuge surrounding the veterans' memorial in Toronto dishonours those Canadians who gave their lives in war. Secrecy and hidden agendas have plagued the original competition since it was first announced. Ontario Realty Corp. (ORC), the government's property managers and the competition organizers, told the jurors on the selection committee that the process was to be kept strictly confidential. In turn, the names of the jury were kept secret. Even now, after this competition has been cancelled, only some of the names have been released after this writer repeatedly asked for them during three separate telephone calls.