Mother Canada name already taken, says Vimy Foundation

The name Mother Canada isalreadytaken.

At least according to The Vimy Foundation.

Walter SeymourAllward'sCanada Bereft, theloomingstatue at theCanadian NationalVimyMemorial in France,is commonly known as Mother Canada.

The group, created to promote Canada's victory atVimyRidge in 1917,wants the Never Forgotten NationalMemorial Foundation to stop calling its proposedeight-storeystatuein the Cape Breton Highlands National Parkby the same name.

Vim Foundation chairman Christopher Sweeneysays withVimy's 100th anniversary on the horizon,he's worried the proposed statue in Cape Breton will cause problems.

"There's a lot of negative commentary out there on the Cape Breton project and so we fear a backlash and that some
Canadians will get confused and they will think there is something negative going on at Vimy, which of course is not the case," he said.

Sweeney says his group contacted the Never Forgotten Memorial Foundation and asked it to change its name.

That's when thelawyers' letter arrived.

"Basically they had trademarked the term Mother Canada and were applying it tomerchandise that's going to be associated with this Never Forgotten monument that's planned for Cape Breton," he said.

The Never ForgottenMemorial Foundation says the Allwardfamilyhas given the Cape Breton project its blessing.

The Vimy Foundation sayit plans to run national ads reminding Canadians there is one Mother Canada and she is in France.