Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay is vowing to do 'everything possible' to resolve a dispute over a proposed condo development at Juno Beach in France.
The site of the proposed condo development at Juno Beach, with the Juno Beach Centre museum visible near the bottom-left of the frame.
The museum has for two years been engaged in a lengthy legal battle with French developer Foncim, which plans to construct two buildings near the beach, for a total of 66 condos. Save Juno Beach, a group of Canadians organizing to stop the development, says the construction of condos on the site where Canadian soldiers took part in the pivotal Normandy landings will dishonour the sacrifices of those soldiers who stormed the beach on June 6, 1944.
"My job is to indicate how important paying respect and commemoration is, and of course to indicate how important Juno Beach is to Canada because a lot of our blood has been spilled here."Unlike the Save Juno Beach group, the museum says it is not categorically opposed to the possibility of construction near the site of the landings.