ELMSDALE: East Hants councillors are facing tough decisions over the future of the Shubenacadie cenotaph, after months of community debate about whether the monument should remain at the Royal Canadian Legion or be returned to its original location along Highway 2.
During a Parks, Recreation and Culture Committee meeting at Executive Committee of council meeting on Sept. 16, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Kim Ramsay outlined a report with five potential options.
The report came after a July presentation from residents who raised concerns about the move and called on council to reconsider their choice.
The cenotaph was relocated in May 2025 to the Legion property to make way for a new central parking lot in the village core. That is a project tied to Shubenacadie’s long-term redevelopment plans following the installation of a new wastewater treatment plant.
“This issue is sort of playing out on Facebook, primarily through East Hants Wants to Know,” Ramsay said, stressing the importance of putting facts on the record.
“I think it’s important that the timeline of how we got to where we are is also considered today.”
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Ramsay said that neither council nor staff initially planned to move the monument.
“There was never an intention from this council or from staff to move the cenotaph,” she said. “It became part of the design after discussions with the Legion.”
But the move has sparked strong opposition.
Eleven letters were submitted to council, including several from residents and one from the Legion president.
Ramsay indicated that the theme of the letters included the monument’s history was tied to the train station where soldiers left for war; how the move felt rushed and without consulting the public. Others expressed concern if the Legion were to ever close or sell, what would happen then; and how the location beside Shubenacadie District Elementary School gives students daily exposure to the monument.
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Ramsay noted the Legion site offers regular monitoring and may deter vandalism.
She also acknowledged the historic and cultural weight of the original site, including its painful ties to Indigenous children who were taken from Shubenacadie to residential schools.
“As part of truth or reconciliation, you could make some meaningful move towards helping the community and anyone who visits Shubenacadie as a reminder of that,” she said.
The five options on the table include:
- Keep the cenotaph at the Legion.
- Keep it there but add interpretive panels near the train station site.
- Keep it there with a reserve fund set aside in case it must be moved again.
- Move it back to the Highway 2 site at a cost of about $42,000.
- Relocate it to a prominent new spot within the parking lot design for about $40,000.
“I do recognize the emotional stress that this has caused the community and members in the community, and for that, I apologize,” Ramsay told the committee.
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Deputy Warden Carl McPhee was the first councillor to respond.
He began the debate that will culminate in a recommendation to full council.
A motion was made and passed to put the cenotaph back to a central location in Shubie, but not the former location.
Further discussion and a final decision is expected at council’s regular monthly meeting next Wednesday Sept. 24.