Cenotaph plaques will be replaced by Remembrance Day
Plaques to replace those stolen from the New Brunswick cenotaph in downtown Fredericton will be ready for Remembrance Day says Tourism, Heritage and Culture Minister Bill Fraser.
"We expect either Monday or Tuesday they should be arriving in Fredericton for installation," said Fraser.
Last month, three commemorative bronze plaques were stolen from the provincial cenotaph and another taken from a smaller cenotaph in Barkers Point.
A foundry in Amherst, N.S. called Liberty Enterprises has been working to replace the plaques for the Nov. 11 ceremonies at the provincial cenotaph. Usually this kind of job takes four weeks to complete. The company had warned that, when working with metal, there are no guarantees of the outcome.
"It was extremely important to make sure that those plaques were back in place to commemorate the tremendous sacrifices that were made and we're very pleased to see that they're going to be in place on that very special day," said Fraser.
"The Barkers Point plaque requires some fine detail work and won't be ready for Remembrance Day, but there will be a temporary dedication in place for the service at that location."
While the Minister called the $30,000 price tag to replace the plaques "quite significant," he said the good news story is how legion branches, groups and individuals, both locally and nationally, rallied to help through fundraisers and donations.
Money raised through those efforts will go toward beautifying the cenotaph area.
Veterans Affairs Canada also offered financial help.
"The country really came together," he said.
"And I'm really proud of how the people in the province and the people in this region who all came together because of the great sacrifice that our veterans made."
Fredericton poppy campaign organizers said, that while the vandalism incidents were unfortunate, they do believe it has brought "a lot of awareness" to their own efforts, including an increase in volunteers, community involvement and donations.
