A unique bid to recognize the contribution women have made to building Canada took a big step forward in Halifax on Friday.
The Halifax Women’s History Society announced that a monument to honour women volunteers during the Second World War will be built, thanks largely to a $100,000 corporate donation from CN.
READ MORE: ‘We’re moving on’: Society plans 1st female statue in Halifax
The society’s chairwoman, Janet Guildford, says the group’s fundraising drive is now past the one-third mark, which means that a call for proposals will be issued to sculptors as early as next week.
Guildford says the statue will be the first of its kind in Halifax to depict real women.
Of the 280 statues in the city, less than a dozen show women – and virtually all of them are mythical figures, fairies and nymphs.
READ MORE: Vandals target contentious Edward Cornwallis statue with red paint
The plan is to have the sculpture installed on the Halifax waterfront – beside the Port Authority building – in time for Canada’s 150th birthday on July 1, 2017.