When Peace Comes is a monument of gratitude for the Canadian Forces, Liberators and Peacekeepers. Created from white Vancouver Island Marble that stands six and a half feet high, this liberating sculpture of peace has some very powerful symbols of transition and transformation on it. We all view things through the lenses of our own life experiences and we engage with memorials or art from that place of personal reference.
For sculptor, Maarten Schaddlelee, this sculpture represents a thank you to the soldiers and Canada for his family's peace in Holland and their new beginnings here in this land of peace. The hand and the sword represent the foe. Peace Comes is represented by the dove symbolizing Canadian Soldiers who liberated Holland by offering their lives for the freedom of the Dutch people. The illumination around the dove is the creation of peace and the prayer of keeping the peace. It was also a personal thank you to his wife Nadina's father William John Workman Stewart, a Canadian soldier, who was one of the liberators of Holland.
The flags behind the memorial are: National Flag of Canadian, Royal Union Flag, Red Ensign – Army (1957-65), White Ensign – Navy, Blue Ensign – Air Force and Red Ensign – Merchant Navy (1922-57). A sponsor’s plaque of polished granite is mounted on an abutting wall behind the curve of the memorial.
