Nova Scotia·NewThe cenotaph of a small community in central Nova Scotia will be moved back to its original location after some local councillors admitted they made a mistake by relocating it without consulting the community.Councillors admit lack of consultation prior to move of bronze statue in May was a mistakeGareth Hampshire · CBC News · Posted: Oct 01, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 33 minutes agoEast Hants council has voted to move the Shubenacadie cenotaph back to its original Main Street site after local residents spoke out against its relocation to the nearby Royal Canadian Legion. (Gareth Hampshire/CBC)The cenotaph of a village in central Nova Scotia will be moved back to its original location after some local councillors admitted they made a mistake by relocating it without consulting the community.The war monument in Shubenacadie was moved in May from the Main Street site where it had stood for more than 100 years. But East Hants council has voted to reverse that decision following a campaign by some residents calling for the cenotaph’s return.”It’s just sacrilege what they did, you can tell I’m still upset about it, but I’m very happy it’s going back to its rightful place,” said Willie Courtney.The monument, a bronze life-sized Canadian soldier carrying a torch and mounted on a granite base, bears the name of his great-uncle William Arthur Courtney, who died in the First World War.”It was just complete shock,” said Courtney, who is named after his great-uncle, of the news that the cenotaph was being relocated. The monument was moved to the nearby Royal Canadian Legion after councillors received a letter from the legion president suggesting it would like the cenotaph on its property if it was going to be moved.Shubenacadie cenotaph returning to original spot after resident-led campaignThe cenotaph of a small community in central Nova Scotia will be moved back to its original location after some local councillors admitted they made a mistake by relocating it without consulting the community. Gareth Hampshire reports.Some councillors have since admitted they did not read the letter carefully and didn’t pay close enough attention to one word in particular.”What we didn’t pick up on is the two-letter word ‘if’ the cenotaph had to be moved,” said Coun. Keith Rhyno.He said there was no malicious intent behind the original decision but it became clear after hearing from a number of residents that council had erred.Rhyno acknowledged that assuming the legion had full community support was another miscalculation.Susan Smith, who was part of the resident-led campaign, was troubled the decision came without broad community consultation.”Nobody knew what was going on until somebody posted a picture on social media with it on the back of a flat deck truck going down the road,” Smith said.The original site of the cenotaph is shown on Main Street off Highway 2 in Shubenacadie beside a sign calling for its return. (Gareth Hampshire/CBC)Carolyn Nelson noted several reasons for the placement of the cenotaph in its original spot in 1921 to honour 19 Shubenacadie residents who were casualties of the First World War.”This location was chosen by those young men’s families, I want to think mostly mothers that didn’t have a grave to go to,” Nelson said. “The train station was right behind our monument and that’s where those young men boarded the train to leave, to go overseas, to fight for our freedoms.”The residents filed access to information requests they say revealed communication between the legion and council that demonstrated confusion between the two. Coun. Carl MacPhee, who represents the area, accepts there were misunderstandings and that community consultation should have happened.But he still insists better parking outside the legion and its visibility to the local elementary school were both good reasons to have the monument there.’Negligent’ in not consulting the public: councillorHe’s supported by at least one resident, Dawn Henneberry, who said council is simply repeating an earlier mistake by moving the monument back without doing proper and broad consultation again.But Rhyno said he felt compelled to try to make up for council’s mistakes.”I was always brought up to say, OK, if you do wrong, admit to it, apologize for it, try to make it right and move on,” Rhyno said.Coun. Sandra Garden-Cole brought forward the motion to reverse course at council’s Sept. 24 meeting.”I feel that we were negligent in not consulting the public on this and the way to most directly make that right is by putting the cenotaph back to its original location,” Garden-Cole said at the meeting.Susan Smith said she has dedicated hours to the cenotaph campaign and is relieved East Hants council has decided to reverse its decision. (Gareth Hampshire/CBC)While the residents behind the campaign still have questions about how the situation got to this point, they are pleased their efforts have been recognized by council.”I think it shows a willingness to correct errors when they’ve been made instead of trying to make them worse by ignoring them,” said Susan Smith.East Hants council has directed staff to try to have the cenotaph moved back in time for Remembrance Day.ABOUT THE AUTHORGareth Hampshire began his career with CBC News in 1998. He has worked as a reporter in Edmonton and is now based in Halifax.
Cenotaph in Shubenacadie, N.S., to be returned to original location
