PEIMADD Canada is looking for a new place in Charlottetown to put up a monument to remember Islanders killed by impaired drivers. The city says the original location does not have the proper zoning.City says MADD Canada needs to find new locationBrittany Spencer · CBC News · Posted: Sep 16, 2025 9:41 AM EDT | Last Updated: September 16MADD Canada CEO Steve Sullivan says the organization hopes to construct a monument, similar to the one pictured here in Manitoba, in every province. (Richard Sabeh/Radio-Canada)Plans to install a monument commemorating the victims of impaired driving on P.E.I. have hit a setback, and now the organization behind the project is looking for a new place to build it.Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada was set to build a monument in Charlottetown behind Government House, the residence of the province’s lieutenant-governor. The monument would bear the names of Islanders killed by impaired drivers. But now, the City of Charlottetown’s heritage and planning board wants MADD to find a different location. The board said the proposed spot doesn’t have the proper zoning, and that the monument doesn’t fit with the heritage nature of the area.Steve Sullivan, CEO of MADD Canada, said the organization worked with the provincial government to select the area, but final approval has to come from the city. “They didn’t feel that our monument aligned with the historical integrity of that space,” Sullivan told CBC News.’The monument has been designed, the people who would build it have been spoken to,’ says MADD Canada CEO Steve Sullivan. (Submitted by Steve Sullivan)While Sullivan said he understands the city needs to take historical designations into consideration when approving new projects, he’s disappointed members of the organization and the community will have to continue waiting for the monument.”It was disappointing, and I think for the families who had expected to have the monument this year [it] was probably more disappointing for them than anyone else,” he said. I think the people of P.E.I. will be quite proud of this monument once we get it installed.— Steve Sullivan, MADD CanadaP.E.I. is the only Atlantic province without a provincial MADD monument. The organization began looking for land donations in the Charlottetown area back in 2017.Each monument is intended to be an educational piece, a reminder to the public that every victim of impaired driving left behind family and friends who miss them.Sullivan said he hopes the monument will be constructed by next spring.”The monument has been designed, the people who would build it have been spoken to,” he said. “I think the people of P.E.I. will be quite proud of this monument once we get it installed.”In a statement to CBC News, the city said it deferred its decision about the monument and will work with MADD Canada to find a more suitable area. It added that a permit has been submitted for a new location, which is now under review.ABOUT THE AUTHORBrittany Spencer is a multi-platform journalist with CBC P.E.I. You can reach her at brittany.spencer@cbc.caWith files from Jackie Sharkey
Charlottetown puts construction of monument honouring impaired driving victims on hold
