Religious monument removed from Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park may be publicly displayed again

A religious monument of the Ten Commandments etched in stone could be publicly displayed once again years after it was removed from Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park.

The city's chief administrative officer recommended that the council's executive policy committee return the Ten Commandments Monument — which has been in storage for over five years  — to its original donor, the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

But the committee amended the request Tuesday, unanimously delegating the CAO to work with the Assiniboine Park Conservancy to find a new location for the monument that would be accessible to the public. 

The committee said a spot in Assiniboine Park could also be considered as a possible future site for the monument. 

"This item is both the challenge and the opportunity of the diverse community we have," Mayor Scott Gillingham told reporters ahead of the voting. 

"I'm really hopeful we can find a way that can accommodate as many people as possible.… We need to aim to understand and reflect and honour the diversity that is the reality of our community."

Monument removed to build The Leaf 

The Ten Commandments Monument was donated to Winnipeg in 1965 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 23, in an effort by the group to erect similar monuments across North America.

The statue was placed in storage in 2017 for the construction of The Leaf, a report presented to the executive committee said. 

The monument was not erected at another location within Assiniboine Park and has remained out of public sight since.

The park said in a written statement that it approached the Fraternal Order of Eagles about moving the monument to a new location, reaching a tentative agreement that was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic and then cancelled by the Eagles in 2022.

'We don't want it back'

The park later requested the city's permanent removal of the monument through the Welcoming Winnipeg initiative, and while the request was being reviewed, the Eagles contacted the park to get the monument back, the report said. 

"We received communications that it [the monument] had to be moved or else it was going to be sold or go to the garbage," Stewart Smith, a representative of the Eagles, said at the executive committee meeting Tuesday.

"We don't want that to happen," he said, and that's why the organization expressed interest in getting the monument back. 

"We do not want it back," Smith said. "Our desire is for it to be, if possible, in a city park for everybody."

Since the monument is a park asset currently owned by the city, council approval was required to authorize its return to the Eagles.

Ed Hume, a retired school trustee, told Tuesday's executive committee meeting he would like to see the monument find a new home within Assiniboine Park. He organized a petition asking for such, which was signed by more than 1,500 people in paper and online.

"Removing the Ten Commandment Monument from the park is taking a side … offending Jewish, Christian and Muslim believers," he said.

"What kind of a future are we passing on to our children and our grandchildren when we remove public monuments that contribute towards rich cultural diversity and promote stronger, safer communities?" 

Councillor 'disappointed'

Coun. Sherri Rollins said she supports having the Assiniboine Park Conservancy work with the city to find a new spot for the monument, but she was "disappointed" that its relocation wasn't resolved at a lower level and instead trickled up to the executive committee. 

"That does signal to me a bit of breakdown in a very key city park," Rollins said.

"We have a relationship with Assiniboine Park Conservancy, as does the community, and I see this as a relationship they have control over."

An Assiniboine Park Conservancy spokesperson said they are "disappointed by the misrepresentation of APC's intentions regarding to the Ten Commandments monument by delegates" at the executive policy committee meeting.

"We have acted in good faith and are disheartened by any suggestion to the contrary," the conservancy said in a written statement.

However, the conservancy is prepared to work with all parties to find a permanent home for the monument, and in the meantime, will continue to ensure it remains "safe and secure" in storage, the organization said.