After a prolonged period of waiting, Remember Every Name, has gained approval from the government for the installation of their monument, which was proposed back in March 2018. Debbie Vernon, who started the group, received the news last Friday after the issue was brought to the attention of the Minister of Government and Consumer Services, Bill Walker, and his Chief of Staff.
Shortly after, the Minister’s office was able to cut through the red tape and approve the monument’s placement at the Huronia Regional Centre Cemetery in Orillia. The quick turnaround allowed the group to announce the confirmed approval on May 12th, 2019, at their annual Mother’s Day Procession.
The monument, has been commissioned by Hilary Clarke-Cole and Steve Sanderson, with the design created in collaboration with the survivors, to ensure that it is meaningful for them. It has been designed and a model has been created but the group had been awaiting government approval with hopes of unveiling the monument this past Mother’s Day.
“We are all older and cannot wait much longer so we would like to reveal the statue no later than August 15th and we clearly communicated that with the government,” Debbie stated, “Many of the survivors have already been lost and we want to honour them and the remaining survivors with this monument, as soon as possible.”
The monument’s unveiling is not confirmed but will be before the August 15th, 2019 deadline. We will share additional information as it becomes available.
We are excited for Remember Every Name and to see the monument once it is unveiled. We are also happy to see the government handling this in a quick manner once the issue was brought to the forefront and appreciate seeing an effort in providing the opportunity to display something important to institution survivors in the community.