Sculpture to stay for awhile

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A statue the federal government said it would put in storage after complaints from a Native group will remain on view indefinitely.

The National Capital Commission said last fall it would remove the bronze figure of a Native scout kneeling at the feet of explorer Samuel de Champlain on Ottawa's Nepean Point. When the loin cloth-clad brave didn't come down before winter, the NCC said the job would have to wait until the temperature rose or the statue, erected in 1924, would be damaged.

Now the removal is on hold while the NCC reviews "the implications" of removing the statue, said spokesperson Lucie Caron.

After meeting with a descendant of sculptor Hamilton MacCarthy, the NCC, which is the caretaker of federal government property in the national capital area, is "making sure our actions are not illegal in any way," Caron said. "We want to take the time to do the research, which is something we hadn't done in the fall."

The family member could not be reached for comment. Caron would not discuss details of the discussions with the family member.

Last June, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Ovide Mercredi covered the statue with a blanket and warned the NCC to remove it within a year. Despite the delay, Mercredi will ensure the statue is removed "one way or the other," AFN spokesman Jean Larose said recently.

The statue was installed nine years after the larger-than-life figure of Champlain was erected on the rise overlooking the Ottawa River.

Legal issues would revolve around the artist's "moral rights" to the statue, said an Ottawa copyright lawyer. The Copyright Act gives an artist "the right to the integrity of the work," said George Hynna.

For example, the sculptor who created a monument of flying snow geese that was installed in Toronto's Eaton Centre took legal action against the mall for infringing his moral rights when it tied a ribbon around the work. The artist won the case, said Hynna.

"It's possible" the family of sculptor Hamilton MacCarthy has moral rights to the work of art "depending on a whole lot of 'ifs,'" Hynna said.

The Native scout is the only monument to Canada's Aboriginal people in the capital area. In May there was a groundbreaking ceremony for a monument to Native veterans, to be erected later this year.

The NCC earlier this year rejected a proposal for a First Nations cultural centre at the heart of Ottawa's tourist district. A hotel complex is expected to be built on the site.