Canada to finally build national Holocaust museum

JTA — The Canadian government announced plans to build a national Holocaust memorial in the nation’s capital.

The monument “will be a testament to the importance of ensuring that the memory of the Holocaust is never lost,” Tim Uppal, minister of state for democratic reform, said in a statement last Tuesday following remarks at the Canadian War Museum, across the street from the designated memorial site.

According to the Ottawa Citizen, Canada is the only former Allied nation that does not have a Holocaust memorial.

“It takes a lot of consensus to come up with something this strong, and now we have greater consensus from parties throughout Parliament that feel that this is something that’s necessary,” Rabbi Daniel Friedman, the memorial council chairman, told the Citizen.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, who attended the announcement on Tuesday, told the CBC that Canada is dedicated to Holocaust awareness.

The government will begin accepting design proposals for the monument next month, with only Canadian firms and individuals eligible to submit.

The memorial is expected to be completed by 2015.