TORONTO, Mar 21, BNS - Canadians of Estonian descent have launched a signature collection campaign for a monument to victims of communism; the signed petition will be handed to the parliament.
The idea of a monument to commemorate the victims of communism has been under discussion at various forums of Central and East European nations for years, Estonian newspaper in Canada Eesti Elu says.
However, the idea was never translated into a concrete initiative until the Estonian Central Council in Canada included it in its action plans and the president of the council, Avo Kittask, made a respective proposal at a conference on the crimes of communism last spring.
The proposal has advanced to the signature collection phase to show to the Canadian public how many societies and persons have been directly or indirectly affected by crimes of communism.
The petition to be handed to the Canadian parliament says the construction of a monument to the victims of communism is long overdue and that communism is not a thing of the past but rages in many countries today and poses a threat to the free world of the future. The monument would educate new generations on the dangers of losing democracy, the petition says.
The petition can be signed on the Internet site http://www.petitiononline.com.
President George W. Bush unveiled on June 12, 2007 the Victims of Communism Memorial in the U.S. capital Washington. The building of the memorial was an international initiative to which the Estonian government contributed 58,000 kroons (EUR 3,700).
(EUR 1 = EEK 15.65)
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