SALMON RIVER, N.S. — A “Broken Heart” metal sculpture has been created by a Truro-area fabricator to serve as a permanent memorial to the victims of the recent Nova Scotia mass murders.
But Wayne Smith, of Salmon River, says he is not sure where he will find a home for the creation after being told by Colchester County District 10 Coun. Tom Taggart that residents in the Portapique area, where the April 18 and 19 tragedies began, are not in favour of having any permanent memorials placed there.
“My position is in opposition to it,” Taggart told Saltwire Network. “I told Wayne this, and with no disrespect, but the people in that community do not want to drive by something and be reminded of it every day. There will be a right place and a right time to do something.”
Smith acknowleged that his conversation with Taggart took place before he constructed the memorial but after mulling it over for a couple of weeks he decided to proceed with it anyway.
“I started thinking more and more about it and I said, ‘no, I’m going to do it,.’” Smith said.
The monument, which is in the shape of a heart, stands just over four metres high with a total of 22 red hearts welded into place down each side. Another tiny red heart has also been added to represent the unborn child of victim Kristen (and Nick) Beaton.
A zig-zagged lengthy metal rod runs up the centre of the monument to represent the broken hearts of the friends and families of the victims.
“Even with our hearts broken we still have you in our heart,” an inscription welded onto a smaller heart at the base of the piece, reads.
Smith said he spent about 40 hours creating the monument with about another 20 hours of work by a local company that cut out the hearts for him. A couple of other local companies also contributed materials.
“I was willing to pay for it because I’ve got funds to cover all this stuff,” he said. “But the people want to do that because they want to be part of it.”
Smith said he was a stepfather to shooting victim Corrie Ellison and his older brother Clinton for about 20 years from the time they were ages five and seven, respectively.
Corrie was killed on the night that the shootings and structure burnings began. He left his father’s house to check things out and when he didn’t return after a prolonged period, Clinton went in search of him, only to find his younger brother’s bloodied body on the side of the road in the dark. Suspecting the then-unknown shooter was nearby, he hid in the woods overnight and has been severely traumatized by the event ever since.
“The thing I worry about now, Corrie’s gone, but it’s Clinton I worry about,” Smith said. “Him and I are communicating almost every day.”
Smith said Clinton doesn’t want anything to do with the media after an initial television interview shortly after the shootings that left 22 people dead.
“He definitely was traumatized that day,” Smith said. “He brought reality 101 to the front page about this thing.”
But he said photos of the Broken Heart he sent to his former stepson have left him with feelings of positivity in an otherwise bleak time.
“It shows that somebody cares, which I do,” Smith said.
And as with the flowers and messages of love and support that numerous people left at the end of Portapique road in the weeks following the tragedies, Smith said he believes that is how his monument would be received if it were given a chance to be seen.
“People don’t go down there, in my opinion, to say this is where all these people were killed. They leave the flowers and stuff like that but when they see the sculpture, it gives them a mental picture, whatever it is,” he said. “The flowers and everything, all that’s fine, but this is a more permanent thing.”
Taggart, however, who is acting as the official spokesperson for residents in the immediate area, said that is not the direction he has been given from them.
“My first responsibility right now is to the residents of that community. And they have told me clearly that they do not want any kind of a monument or a reminder at this time,” he said. “I know how Wayne feels about this but I can’t support it at all. If the community supported his position, I would support it. But I’m telling you, without question, it’s been clearly articulated to me more than anything else, is that they do not want a reminder in that community.”
