First off, I started it in 2022 as soon as I became the sergeant-at-arms at the Amherst Legion.
I had a meeting with the Town of Amherst CAO. Within half an hour he was on board with the project. He asked me when I wanted to unveil it. I said September 11, but then I said how about the end of Legion week, September 23, and that's when it was unveiled.
Veterans Affairs did not contribute to the project. I had multiple engagements with the commemorative partnership grant unit, the last being by Skype the day that the PSAC strike started two years ago. The answer I was given was that they were not funding new monuments, but if I were putting up a memorial for marginalized veterans, they had money for me that day. I said to the commemorative partnership manager, “You know, Ainsworth Dyer, one of the first four Canadians who died in Afghanistan, was African Canadian.” She didn't know what to say to me.
Our Legion raised $42,000 and paid for the whole thing, minus donations from the Town of Amherst and in-kind contributions from the Province of Nova Scotia.