Funny thing that.

Since Nov 4th, I've had American acquaintances ask if we could come down and do a better job on the White House this time.

I tell them "You do York right this time and we'll call it even."

"...was commissioned by Malibu Investments..."

At least I didn't have to pay for it.

On one hand it's less offensive than the CBC's attempt at converting 'jPod' to a TV series.

Deputy Mayor of Toronto Joe Pantalone said ...“It’s really a statement about the nature of war, as much as about the War of 1812,” ...

Former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson called the sculpture a “wonderful thing, by not only a great visual artist, but writer.”

The City of Toronto and its cultural community; setting the bar ever higher for nihilism and self-loathing.

This is too rich to be true:

Google "Pantalone" and this is what you find under the first reference, which happens to be Wikipedia:

Pantalone From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the politician, see Joe Pantalone.

Pantalone (French: Pantalon) is a stock character that is classified as one of the vecchi (old men) in Commedia dell'arte. He is a miserly and often libidinous character who is portrayed as a Venetian and often speaks in the Venetian dialect.

Pay him in Monopoly money.

If it was paid for by private money, then what the hell. I think it is silly, but then that.s my choice, if they figure they get their $500,000 worth let them enjoy it.

If it was paid for by private money, then what the hell. I think it is silly, but then that's my choice, if they figure they get their $500,000 worth let them enjoy it.

I think it really speaks to Central Canadian insecurities. Its hard to define a large swath of Canadians without using the term "but not American".

Sadly some peoples whole self-definition is "I'm not American" and they don't know why. Yet they consume American culture and products with out a second thought.

The war of 1812 was not a victory for Canada (which didn't exist in 1812) but it also was not a victory for the US. It did help define Canada and was a part of the fall of British rule in North America but hardly a decisive Canadian victory.

Maybe the Americans will put up a monument to remind Canadians about what happened at Ft. William. Being of Scottish blood, I don't feel comfortable with Britsh Victory and York in the same sentence. York was William Wallace's VICTORY.

Pathetic and juvenile.

England and the US came to a draw in this war, but this idiot, due to his juvenile "I am not American, and I know Canada won this war" mindset creates a monument implying that England wiped the floor with the US? What a moron.

(Of course it is also insulting to the US, but that does not bother anyone anymore. And Canadians are supposed to be polite?)

"Sadly some peoples whole self-definition is "I'm not American" and they don't know why. Yet they consume American culture and products with out a second thought."

Sadly though, there are people who ARE American and yet they define themselves as not being American. Usually we call them Democrats. unfortunately that includes the current president Elect.

To comment on the actual post, the war of 1812 is really a forgotten war here in the US. Overshadowed by the Civil War it seems, rarely studied in history class or skimmed over. But it seems to me that there were many on both sides that fought bravely for their side. Toys they weren't. Isaac Brock is my favourite character in Canadian history. A very brave and audacious man, at the outbreak of the war he captured Mackinac and Detroit having barely fired a shot. Then led the charge at Queenston heights to keep the Americans on their own side of the river. Canada lost him far too soon. Winfield Scott on the US side cut his teeth as an officer. He later made his mark in the Civil War, with the indelible mark of Lundy's Lane on his command.

War memorials of modern construction don't make me reflect on those times or the sacrifices made by those men. The picture of this particular one doesn't make me think of 1812 at all, rather it brings to mind some sort of odd out take from the nutcracker suite.

CanuckInMi: "rather it brings to mind some sort of odd out take from the nutcracker suite."
I have to agree. A more proper image that comes to mind is a Militia Man. Dressed in homespun and with his own musket or more likely, a rifle. The regulars did a noble job at Lundy's Lane, but the Militia were there, unpaid, and for no reward or honor.

From the Lundy's Lane website, page 2.
"On the afternoon of July 25, 1814, Lieutenant-General Gordon Drummond, with about 2,000 British, Canadian and Native troops, engaged an invading American army. The two forces were almost evenly matched in size, but the U.S. troops, under Generals Jacob Brown and Winfield Scott, had recently been victorious at Chippawa."
**http://www.battleoflundyslane.com/page2.htm**

So many layers of stupidity. One of the causes of the War of 1812 was the nasty habit the British had of enslaving Americans to serve in their navy. "Impressment", they called it, and while Brittania ruled the waves for centuries, they did so with a navy that was largely comprised of slaves. If Coupland wants to be on the pro-slavery side of this equation he is certainly more than welcome.

Canadiana. Coyne is right, it is so much kitsch.

Too bad we no longer celebrate our heroes.

Then again, I think a tacky phony bronze statue is good enough for Toronto.

Knowing that Adrienne Clarkson likes it is all I need to conclude that it is crap.

Well, let's see. The Brits dominated on the ocean, the Yanks dominated the Lakes. The Yanks invaded and burnt some government buildings. The Brits did the same. Impressment and trade embargoes of the Continent ended, but for other reasons. And in the end, no boundaries were changed. That sounds like a draw to me.

So why is one soldier fallen over? And why are they "toy soldiers"?

Man, I'm in the wrong business!!!

I'm not a liberal, thusly I don't understand garbage that passes as art

just a waste of 500K in my opinion, just glad it's not my money

'Have to laugh that Clarkson mentions that Doug Coupland is a writer too. Ha, ha! Not so deep down I'm sure that was an allusion to the fact that--clear as the nose on one's face--these soldiers are pure crap and that maybe Coupland is a better writer than he is an "artist."

Oy vey ... what passes for art these days ...

"Man, I'm in the wrong business!!!"

I'm in the business and would have happily done it for less than $20,000 if given scale model to work from.

Many years ago when I was a militia trooper I was a member of a guard that took part in a parade to re bury some dead soldiers from the was of 1812. As I recall they were both Canadian/British and Americans, and there were Canadians and Americans there for the service.

Other than that unfortunate event, and a few others we could not ask for better neighbours. I can't think of any other countries that have been peaceful neighbours for 200 years.

Meh, being a nerd and a fan of Couplands writing, I don't see the harm in it, and find it clever. I would appreciate more historical statues to real hero's of the past, but due to the small scale nature of the "war" itself, I find it pretty humorous. 500,000$ though...wow, that blows my mind.

The JPod adaptation was total balls.

@Historia,

Given your name almost contains the word history, I find it confusing that you're calling the Brits out for being pro-slavery. The British created the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 in, you guessed it, 1833. Now, have you forgotten when the U.S. abolished slavery? A full 30 years later in 1862/1863.

Or was it because they were enslaving white people that you are upset about that time period? ;)

Personally, I like it. It is different, and also is non-offensive with it's toy soldier motif. Now, I know, non-offensive is a bad thing; but I figure no sense in making our good cousins to the south angry over a war memorial. Besides, as indicated, there are a fair number of memorials already for 1812. In fact, the positive spin is that the other memorials will likely get a new audience. Not a bad thing for a controversial piece of art to accomplish. I also don't think the intention was to trivialise the soldiers either. Add to the situation it is a privately funded piece of work, on private land, that didn't cost millions and millions, and there is not a lot to complain about.

And as I see it, 'Canada' won the War of 1812. The United States goal was to conquer the British North American colonies. They failed completely. I would call that a victory for the Canadian colonies.

Imagine the reaction to a statue with a Canadian WWII soldier standing over a dead German soldier.

Every country has it's share of petty, ignorant, chauvanists.

Heather Mallick, Douglas Coupland, Tucker Carlson and Bill O'Reilly should all be exiled to the same, very small, island.

Bet you would get at least $ 20 if you put it on Ebay

Big deal. Play this Johnny Horton video at the same time/place and call it even in tastelessness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Q47i4zGBs

Can you really compare this...

http://diogenesborealis.blogspot.com/2008/11/hideous-public-art-5.html

to this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:USMC_War_Memorial_Sunset_Parade_2008-07-08.jpg

or this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:ANZACWarMemorial1_gobeirne.jpg

Douglas Coupland's work is, frankly, a piece of sh*t and should be recognised as such.

Is isn't really that hard to create a good war memorial!

I tried to get Pierre to change his headline to Ethics challenged writer writes on challenged ethics