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The unveiling of the memorial honouring peace activist Kinuko Laskey. (Click on any picture to see a larger version.)

VDLC honours peace activist
Kinuko Laskey

The Vancouver and District Labour Council has been working for the past few years to erect a memorial honouring peace activist Kinuko Laskey. The official unveiling of the finished memorial erected at Seaforth Peace Park took place on Saturday, October 24, 2009.

Kinuko was a 17 year old nurse when she survived the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. She subsequently immigrated to Vancouver with her husband in the early 50s and became a peace activist and educator, and strong proponent of nuclear disarmament.

Kinuko’s husband, David Laskey

Well known sculptor Keith Shields created a beautiful bronze bust of Kinuko to honour her and her work. The Vancouver & District Labour Council thought that it would be appropriate to display this piece of art and the woman it honours in a prominent location in the city of Vancouver. So we have been working on that project for the last few years. The bust was approved by the City of Vancouver public art committee as suitable for donation and public display and the Vancouver Parks Board approved locating it in a prominent position in Seaforth Peace Park.

The construction of the plinth and the bust was complicated by the need to attach the bust and plaque to the plinth with reinforcing rods right through the concrete so that they cannot be removed or pried off. The design and constructon took several months to complete and ready for unveiling. Seaforth Peace Park is an apt location for this public artwork as Kinuko was given the honour of lighting the peace flame in this park when it was officially dedicated by Mike Harcourt in the 1980s.

VDLC President Bill Saunders speaks at official unveiling.

“I believe that this will be one of the only public monuments to honour an Asian woman activist anywhere in the province,” said Bill Saunders, President of the Vancouver & District Labour Council.

“The Vancouver and District Labour Council is the official sponsor and are proud to associate ourselves with this project and with the cause of peace in the city of Vancouver, “ he added.

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• Postedd 18 NOV 2009

copyright © 2009 by Vancouver and District Labour Council