A B.C. peace activist is making another pitch for a controversial statue commemorating American war resisters who fled to Canada during the Vietnam war.



The controversial sculpture
Isaac Romano first raised the idea in 2004, as part of plans for a reunion of war resisters and anti-war activists being held in Nelson and Castlegar this summer.

However, the idea was shelved in the face of strong resistance from U.S. veterans' groups.

The reunion itself has drawn criticism from many Americans who call Romano and others like him "draft dodgers."

But most of the criticism was aimed at the large statue that Romano proposed to commemorate Vietnam war resisters who came north, and the Canadians who took them in.



Isaac Romano (File photo)
The resulting controversy led to threats that some American tourists would boycott Nelson.

At that point, Nelson city council voted against spending any public money or allowing the use of any public land for the monument.

But Romano says it wouldn't have to be placed in Nelson. "We're taking proposals from organizations throughout Canada and the U.S., to determine the final home of the nine-foot-tall bronze sculpture The Welcoming."

The sculpture features one man welcoming another man and woman across a border.

As many as 125,000 young Americans came to Canada during the 1960s and 70s because of their opposition to the Vietnam War – with up to 14,000 of them settling in the Nelson area.