A lawsuit has been initiated against Kincardine for the destruction of a monument dedicated to Dr. Solomon Secord, which his descendants claim was never owned by the Municipality.
David J. R. Secord – who is a great-grandson of Dr. Solomon Secord’s first cousin – submitted the statement of claim to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The claim states that the monument was funded privately, built by local residents, and was never recognized as property of the Municipality.
Secord mentioned that he only learned about this issue while researching his family history and then began seeing stories about the monument in his news feed.
During the council meeting on September 11, 2024, members voted seven to one to remove the Second Secord Monument, which used to be located outside the Kincardine Library.
On September 13, 2024, David Secord said he reached out to the Municipality’s office, informing them he represented the Secord family. A staff member assured him someone would return his call, but he never received a response.
“At no time have they ever reached out to me, at no point,” he stated. “Other than my Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, which they’ve provided what they’ve provided, at no time have they ever reached out to me.”
The statement claims that his lawyers later sent a letter asking the Municipality not to destroy the monument along with follow-up letters. A month later, Secord said it was revealed by Municipal counsel that the monument had been destroyed on September 17, 2024.
Secord indicated that for over a year and a half now he’s been working on recreating the monument.
“I immediately made up my mind that I wasn’t going to sit with that. I checked and got some quotes to reconstruct it and then I picked (Superior Memorials) out of Ontario to build it and it’s now finished,” he shared.
He noted that a new location for the reconstructed monument has yet to be decided.
Secord is pursuing aggravated damages totaling $30,000 (which includes costs for building a new memorial) along with punitive damages amounting to $90,000.
The argument from his team is centered around their belief that since it was never listed as Municipal property and according to statements from the Heritage Committee it “was built through funds raised by local citizens,” they had no right to destroy it.
The claims in this statement have not yet been proven in court.
In addition to this legal challenge, Secord is also filing an appeal with Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner regarding two FOI requests related to information about how decisions were made concerning the monument.
Secord expressed he’s determined to get answers no matter how long it takes.
“The family is invested in it. We’ve been through a lot already with this-a lot of angst-but as long as it takes we’re going to stick it out,” he remarked. “To have our day in court and get information we want will bring closure for everyone involved because I think many people feel similarly.”
Secord chose not to comment on council’s initial decision regarding decommissioning based on Dr. Solomon’s contributions during the American Civil War era.
The Municipality responded through its CAO stating that “because this matter involves legal issues, it is unable to discuss details publicly.”
The statement of claim was served on September 9 and now gives the Municipality up until 30 days to respond.
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