Prime minister statue project finally finds home in Waterloo Region

A beleaguered prime minister statue projecthas finally found a home after two years of controversy.

After the City of Kitchener and officials at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo said no to the project, councillors in Wilmot Township, located just west of Kitchener, voted unanimously Monday night to offer up space for thestatues.

"We decided we wanted to stay in the region and theWilmotlocation seemed to be the best," said JimRodger, the organizer of the project.

"It was a unanimous decision by the council, so we're comfortable proceeding,"Rodgersaid. "We're very, very happy obviously, because now we can get around to the business of actually getting more of the sculpturescreatedand placing them."

The privately-funded project would see the creation 22 bronze sculptures of past Canadian prime ministers, and was initiallyconceived to mark Canada's upcoming150thbirthday. Proponents also hoped the statues could be used as a teaching device for the public.

The statues will now go in the village of Baden by the township's administration offices and Castle Kilbride.

"It's [CastleKilbride]got great ties to Canada's history, it was the home of a parliamentarianfor 18 years, there's an absolutely fabulous museum and restoredItalianatevilla on the property and there's nine acres of property that we can put the sculptures on."

• Wilfrid Laurier University nixes prime minister statues project
• Victoria Park statue project defeated in council vote

Controversial project

Previous attempts to place the statues in Victoria Park and at Wilfrid Laurier University were met with controversy.

• WilfridLaurierUniversityto house 22 life-size statues of Canadian PMs
• Life-size prime minister statues proposed for Victoria Park

In March 2014,Kitchener city council unanimously rejected the proposal, pointing to a survey that indicated residents opposed the idea.

In June 2015, project organizers thought they had found a home for the sculptures at Wilfrid Laurier University, but shortly after the project was approved in June, a petition circulated to stop it. Opponents to the statues said thatcelebrating the country's past prime ministers would be culturally insensitive, given the university is built on land that traditionally belongs to First Nations people, and that not enough consultation was done.

In February the university's board of governors nixed the idea.

But even that decision wasn't without criticism - none other than Conrad Black said the university "folded like a $3 suitcase" in the face of opposition to the project.

The bronze statue of Sir John A. Macdonald that is currently at Laurier will be moved to the Castle Kilbride location.