The Hill Times, By Tim Naumetz
Despite heavy construction, underground dynamiting and excavations on Parliament Hill, nearly all of the seven statues of distinguished former prime ministers of Canada are still easily accessible to the public.
All but one—the statue of Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Liberal prime minister Lester B. Pearson.
The unique bronze statue of Pearson, unusual because he is portrayed sitting on a chair as he looks out over Parliament Hill, is now entirely covered by heavy grey plywood, on the same spot it was before giant excavators, gravel trucks and a massive construction crane moved in only 20 metres away.
Unlike three other statues of former prime ministers the Public Works Department moved to safer spots—because they were directly located on excavation or temporary building sites—Public Works managers kept the statue of Pearson where it was and surrounded it with the plywood hoarding for protection.
That took place sometime last year, when the stone base of a massive nearby statue of Queen Victoria was also surrounded by hoarding for protection, but with the towering monument to the reigning Queen at Confederations still visible.
The statue of Pearson, surrounded by its plywood hoarding behind a circle of heavy metal fencing that surrounds the construction site and was raised to keep the public away from the work and machinery, is not visible at all.
In fact, Pearson’s monument is the only statue the public can’t view on Parliament Hill.
Liberal MPs say it’s time to free Pearson, at least his statue.
“They should get him out,” said Prince Edward Island Liberal MP Lawrence MacAulay.
“If everybody has been moved out but Pearson, and he’s behind plywood, that’s not fair, and it’s inappropriate, just inappropriate,” Mr. MacAulay said.
A knowledgeable Parliament Hill source told The Hill Times that when an unidentified Conservative MP discovered the statue of First World War prime minister Robert Borden had been moved from its spot at the front of Parliament Hill’s west end—to a recess hidden away beside the Library of Parliament—a quick complaint led to a new site on a narrow lawn at the rear of the Centre Block.
The statue of another prominent former Conservative prime minister, John Diefenbaker, was located directly in front of Pearson’s statue at the rear of the West Block before construction began. The bronze face of the towering statue of Mr. Diefenbaker now looks directly down on the main rear entrance to the House of Commons side of the Centre Block, the entrance Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) uses every time his motorcade drops him off for Commons sittings or other occasions.
The statues of the two former Conservative prime ministers were located directly on excavation locations, as was a statue of former Liberal prime minister Alexander Mackenzie, also now in full public view behind Centre Block.
Public Works says the statue of Pearson—who introduced Canada’s new maple leaf flag in 1965 and also brought in universal public health care—was not directly on construction space.
“Statues that are within construction zones are moved to temporary locations; other statues, not in construction zones, are protected with hoarding as appropriate,” Pierre-Alain Bujold, a spokesperson for Public Works and Governments Services, said in an email to The Hill Times.
“The Lester Bowles Pearson monument and the Queen Victoria Monument are outside of the construction zone and protected with engineered plywood hoarding painted in accordance with NCC (National Capital Commission) guidelines for temporary structures on the Hill,” Mr. Bujold said. “PWGSC monitors the condition of the monuments while construction work is underway.”
Heavy underground blasting nearby the Pearson and Queen Victoria statues resumed last week.
Liberal MP Wayne Easter from Prince Edward Island, home to one of the first founding conferences that led to Confederation, said Pearson, who served two terms as prime minister from April, 1963 to April, 1968, when he was succeeded by Pierre Trudeau, should merit public access to his monument. The West Block construction is not scheduled to be complete until 2017, Canada’s 150thanniversary.
“He brought in the pension plan and the national health care plan, and this is the 50th anniversary of the Canadian flag, that wonderful red flag ensign, for Canadians, it puts a thrill in them when they hear that anthem, and that flag going up a poll,” said Mr. Easter. “Pearson did a lot. He’s one of them who should be out there all the time and not covered up under plywood. What’s the sense?”