Peace Monuments
in Québec (Canada)

Right click image to enlarge.

Date? - "Place de la Grande-Paix-de-Montréal / Peace Square, between place d'Youville & rue William, Old Montréal, Montréal, Quebec (Canada). "A narrow strip of grass & trees on Place d'Youville just east of Place Royale. It was here that the French signed a major peace treaty with dozens of aboriginal nations [on August 4, 1701]. It was also here that the first French colonists landed their four boats on May 17, 1642. An obelisk records the names of the settlers."

1919 - "Canada's Aid to the Allies and Peace Memorial," Montreal Standard Publishing Company, Montreal, Quebec (Canada). A 152-page publication edited by Frederic Yorston. Focuses on what the various provinces, people, & companies had done to help the Allied cause during World War I. Published in a large magazine-style format (19.5" x 23.5"), the majority of ads are for companies in the Montreal area with a sprinkling of major industries from coast to coast." /// Not about monuments but uses the phrase "peace memorial." Click here for much more about this phrase.

1967 - Environment Museum, Environment Canada, Biosphere, Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montréal, Quebec (Canada). "Interactive exhibitions aimed at increasing understanding of major environmental issues." In geodesic dome constructed for Expo 67 (1967 world's fair). See Image

May 26-June 2, 1969 - Second "Bed-In," Rooms #1738 & #1742, Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montréal, Québec (Canada). "During their seven day stay, they invited Timothy Leary, Tommy Smothers, Dick Gregory & Al Capp, and all but Capp sang on the peace anthem "Give Peace a Chance" when recorded in the hotel room on June 1 (as shown in image)."

May 2006 - The "Give Peace a Chance" Hotel Room (Suite 1742), Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal, Quebec (Canada). "John Lennon and Yoko Ono placed Suite 1742 in the international spotlight during their Bed-In in May 1969. The highlight of the world's most famous bed-in was John Lennon's composition of the song Give Peace A Chance which he wrote and recorded in the suite. To commemorate the 37th anniversary, the hotel is offering the Give Peace a Chance package."

1991 - Caesura sculpture, Jarry Park, 1425 Boulevard Rene Levesque West, Montreal, Quebec (Canada). "Near Boulevard Saint-Laurent near the police station. By Montreal artist Linda Covit who dedicated the work to Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Extensively restored in 2009." /// "Commandée par la ville de Montréal pour son anniversaire." /// "Buried in cement underneith the walls are some 2,700 war toys donated by children to protest military expenditure in a world of immense human needs. Some of the toys, cast in bronze - from swords to tanks - remain on the surface to remind us of the folly & futility of the warrior mentality & of stockpiling armaments." (A caesura is a complete pause in a line of poetry or in a musical composition.) Entry #1352 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1991 - Jardin de la Paix / Peace Garden, Chambly, Quebec (Canada). By the side of the Chambly basin at the back of the public library. Decidated by the city to the peace of the world. Designed by John MacLeod. Image shows the Chambly canal - not the peace garden. Entry #1345 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1994 - Le Mur de Berlin / The Berlin Wall, Centre de Commerce Mondial de Montréal (CCMM) / Montreal World Trade Center, 747 Square Victoria, , Montréal, Quebec (Canada). "A gift by the City of Berlin to the City of Montréal in 1992 on the occasion of its 350th birthday. The section comes from a location near the Bradenburg Gate. The Trade Center is a 10-storey complex formed of an old city block 1988-1991. Entry #1360 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1994 - Place de la Paix / Peace Square, 1182 Boulevard St.-Laurent (known as the Main), Montreal, Quebec (Canada). "An urban park composed of an inner square of stones crosscrossed with grass, surrounded by trees, flowers & benches. Robert Desjardins, landscape architect, designer." Entry #1362 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

O F F I C E

1995 - World Headquarters, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Place de la Cité internationale, Quartier International, Montréal, Quebéc (Canada).

April 26, 1998 - "La Reparation Monument a la Memoire des Victimes des Genocides / The Reparation Monument to the Victims of Genocide, Parc Marcelin-Wilson, Boulevards de l"Acadie & Henri-Bourassa, Montreal, Quebec (Canada). "More than 2,000 Armenian community members turned out for the official unveiling ceremonies for an Armenian Genocide monument–which is also dedicated to all genocides of the 20th century. [It] is the first such structure dedicated to the Armenian Genocide to be erected in a public place in all of Canada. (The first Genocide memorial monument in Canada was unveiled 14 years ago at the Toronto Armenian Center.)"Entry #1364 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

B E L L

May 19, 1998 - La Cloche de la Paix / Peace Bell, Japanese Garden, Montréal Botanical Gardens, 4101 Sherbrooke Street East, Montréal, Québec (Canada). "Created from an original design by Masahiko Katori [1899-1988], modelled on the Hiroshima bell." Presented by the Hon. Takashi Hiraoka, Mayor of Hiroshima, after signing a sister city agreement between the two cities. Entry #1357 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

June 20-October 2003 - Topiary Hiroshima Peace Bell, Mosaicultures Internationales / Mosaiculture International (3rd annual), Old Port, Montréal, Quebec (Canada). Temporary monument made of living plants.

M U S E U M

July 2003 - Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre (MHMC), 5151 Côte-Ste-Catherine Road, Montreal, Quebec (Canada). "First major Holocaust museum in Canada. Facilitated by the philanthropy of Steven Cummings [1898-2001]. Aims to alert the public to the dangers of anti-semitism, bigotry and hate, while promoting respect for diversity and the sanctity of all human life. Its also highlights the role of Montreal, a city that is home to the third largest Holocaust survivor population in the world. Tells the story of the Shoah through the eyes, the voices and the possessions of those few who survived the horrors of the Holocaust, and who made a new home in the city."

2009 - "Give Peace a Chance," Mount Royal Park, Montreal, Quebec (Canada). St. Marc limestone 100 x 1700 x 600 cm / 3 ft. 3 in. x 56 ft. x 19 ft. 8 in. By Montreal artist Linda Covit. Commissioned by the City of Montreal. "The mountain is an important Montreal heritage site in the heart of the city, the layout originally conceived by Frederick Law Olmsted. The artistic intervention commemorates the 1969 John Lennon-Yoko Ono bed-in here. The crescent-shaped installation nestles one of the hairpin turns in the Serpentine, a winding path up the mountain's southern flank. The phrase 'give peace a chance' from the song written during that event, is translated into 40 languages spoken here, written in relief on stone slabs. Rough stone blocks mark the installation entranceway, provide seating & reference the stone of the mountain. Moss & ferns complete the work."

G A R D E N

July 19, 2009 - Jardin Roerich / Roerich Garden, Mile End, St-Viateur, Montreal, Quebec (Canada). "Red clover and bee balm in the shape of a 20-foot wide Roerich symbol -- the symbol of cultural preservation which was placed on the roofs of schools, museums, and historical monuments during WWII to deter aerial bombers. Emily Rose Michaud, the artist behind the Roerich Garden – which has grown from art project, to gardening collective, to political statement – says her work is a message to the community and city officials that this meadow is culturally meaningful."

W A L K

August 18, 2000-October 16, 2011 - Worldwide Walk, Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Jean Beliveau - who arrived home on Sunday to a hero's welcome in Montreal from loved ones, MP's & supporters - said his 'real mission' was to lobby Canada & other governments to create 'ministries of peace.' 'We are all different, & that is what is beautiful about life on Earth - our different colours, different beliefs, different political systems,' he said. 'Those are all musical notes... we must create harmony from them, create a common tune,' an emotional Mr Beliveau told the crowd assembled at city hall in the old part of the city. Mr Beliveau left Montreal on the day of his 45th birthday - August 18, 2000 - after his small sign business went bankrupt. He decided to run around the world to try to escape the pain. The Canadian ran all the way to Atlanta, Georgia, before slowing his stride for what would become the longest uninterrupted walk around the world: 75,000 km across 64 countries."

Ville de Québec / Québec City