# Canada Erects New Statue to War of 1812 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 5, 2008, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185 "2008-11-05T02:00:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/41 "2008-11-06T20:17:34Z")
The way we learned it in AP US History (IIRC) was that you could really divide the belligerents into four: the Canadians, the British, the Americans, and the Indians. The Canadians definitively won, the British and Americans came out in more or less a draw, and the Indians lost big time. In general in the US, the completely irrelevant and useless victory at New Orleans makes people think of the war as a victory, conveniently ignoring the massive fail that was the Canadian Campaign. Nobody really got what they wanted out of the war other than Canadians, whose only real goal was to repel a foreign invasion. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/42 "2008-11-06T21:53:32Z")
Wow, that’s embarassing. To anyone seeing this who’s from another country: beleive it or not, in Canada we actually do have solemn and dignified ways of remembering wars, and this monstrosity is not typical of Canadians in general. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/43 "2008-11-06T22:03:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Wow, that’s embarassing. > > To anyone seeing this who’s from another country: beleive it or not, in Canada we actually do have solemn and dignified ways of remembering wars, and this monstrosity is not typical of Canadians in general. Like the Airman’s Memorial (aka "Gumby Goes to Heaven)? [http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/monuments/on/tair.htm](http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/monuments/on/tair.htm) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/44 "2008-11-06T22:11:23Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Wow, that’s embarassing. > > To anyone seeing this who’s from another country: beleive it or not, in Canada we actually do have solemn and dignified ways of remembering wars, and this monstrosity is not typical of Canadians in general. Solemn, dignified Canadians? Didn’t you all once almost name an entire province “Bob”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/45 "2008-11-06T22:11:49Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Like the Airman’s Memorial (aka "Gumby Goes to Heaven)? > > [http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/monuments/on/tair.htm](http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/monuments/on/tair.htm) Could be worse, like the Atomic Eggbeater at the corner of Yonge and Queens Quay, or the canoe suspended up in the air in pincers at the Queensway and Windermere… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/46 "2008-11-06T22:16:20Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Solemn, dignified Canadians? Didn’t you all once almost name an entire province “Bob”? > > 😃 No, he’s saying that we can _act_ solemn and dignified if we have to. 🙂 This memorial doesn’t surprise me much; the public art I’ve seen various places is, well, the word “ridiculous” comes to mind. [Here’s a nice statue of Louis Riel.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:LouisRielTortured.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/47 "2008-11-06T22:35:08Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Solemn, dignified Canadians? Didn’t you all once almost name an entire province “Bob”? > > 😃 It was a Territory. That’s different. 😃 Besides, it made Bob really, really happy. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/48 "2008-11-06T23:04:56Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > This memorial doesn’t surprise me much; the public art I’ve seen various places is, well, the word “ridiculous” comes to mind. [Here’s a nice statue of Louis Riel.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:LouisRielTortured.jpg) All hail our Rielian alien overlords? It looks like it would go well in that picture I once saw of the Pope giving a speech in front of a gigantic wall-spanning sculpture that could only be described as “The Resurrection Of Cthulhu”. ---
**Author:** ![Rapier42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/90db22/32.png) [@Rapier42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rapier42)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/49 "2008-11-06T23:28:48Z")
Hey, waitjustacottonpickin’ second. You Canadians can’t just go around correcting history like that. We’ve already revised that bit, you can’t re-revise without touching base first. There’s _rules_. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/50 "2008-11-06T23:30:17Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Like the Airman’s Memorial (aka "Gumby Goes to Heaven)? I never got Gumy out of that. I always got “Luftwaffe Uber Alles.” You have to admit that bird at the top sure does look like the Nazi eagle, and the 30s-modernistic feel of the edifice really hearkens back to the Nazi-heroic architecture Hitler was so fond of. My grandfather risked his life 35 times to bomb those fuckers, and the statue they put up to honor him looks like the shit he was blowing up. To look at a real Canadian war memorial, check out this: > **[1914-1918.ca](http://www.1914-1918.ca/vigil.aspx?lang=en)** > > This domain may be for sale! Between Nov 4 and Nov 11, the names of every Canadian who died fighting in the First World War will be projected onto the war memorial in Ottawa, Toronto City Hall, and other locations, in letters big enough to be seen from far away. That’s a memorial. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/51 "2008-11-06T23:38:37Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > No, he’s saying that we can _act_ solemn and dignified if we have to. 🙂 > > This memorial doesn’t surprise me much; the public art I’ve seen various places is, well, the word “ridiculous” comes to mind. [Here’s a nice statue of Louis Riel.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:LouisRielTortured.jpg) looks like they _mutated_ the poor chap, rather than simply hanging him. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/52 "2008-11-06T23:43:48Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I never got Gumy out of that. I always got “Luftwaffe Uber Alles.” You have to admit that bird at the top sure does look like the Nazi eagle, and the 30s-modernistic feel of the edifice really hearkens back to the Nazi-heroic architecture Hitler was so fond of. > > My grandfather risked his life 35 times to bomb those fuckers, and the statue they put up to honor him looks like the shit he was blowing up. > > To look at a real Canadian war memorial, check out this: > > [1914-1918.ca](http://www.1914-1918.ca/vigil.aspx?lang=en) > > Between Nov 4 and Nov 11, the names of every Canadian who died fighting in the First World War will be projected onto the war memorial in Ottawa, Toronto City Hall, and other locations, in letters big enough to be seen from far away. > > That’s a memorial. Heh I suppose the name just stuck. 😉 But yeah, there are lots of tasteful and moving memorials. My flash player won’t play that clip, but I’ll see it at home … ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/53 "2008-11-07T03:22:30Z")
\*Originally Posted by spoike I’m embarrassed to say that I had no idea that Douglas Coupland is also an artist. Methinks I’m going to spend time this morning educating myself. \* > [@Mahna\_Mahna](#): > > Not only is Coupland an artist (and a pretty good one at that), he’s also been dabbling in urban planning… \ Bizarre story from last month - in the midst of packing and moving (don’t ask!), I rented some movies for the kids. Through some weird error at the video store, I got something called [Souvenir of Canada](http://souvenirofcanada.com/) in place of the Lassie disc I’d asked for. Instead of taking it back, I did the archetypical Canadian thing, and watched it anyway. It was a really cool film of Douglas Coupland’s Canada House project. Highly recommended, though it’s full of stuff I can’t imagine anyone not from Canada getting. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/54 "2008-11-07T04:35:51Z")
I tried to rent “Alien” and got “Back Door Brides” instead. I didn’t watch it. Does that make me less Canadian? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185/55 "2008-11-07T04:39:42Z")
> [@Mahna\_Mahna](#): > > I haven’t heard anyone claim that the US won the War of 1812, though a couple of people rather emphatically stated that “Canada didn’t win because the battles were fought by British troops”. > > Given that any Canadian soldiers back then would’ve been considered part of the British army, it’s a bit of a silly distinction to make… but if it makes you Yanks feel better, I’m willing to play along. 🙂 That’s cool, but there were Canadians in the Revolutionary war English forces too. So couldn’t Canada’s army got it’s ass handed to it by some rowdy farmers and the french. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-erects-new-statue-to-war-of-1812/471185.md?page=2)