The "Mac-Paps", or members of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion were the first Canadian soldiers to fight against the fascist aggression that became World War 11. They volunteered to defend democracy in the Spanish Civil War ( 1936-39) fighting against Franco, Hitler and Mussolini.

Only three Mac Paps were able to attend: Maurice Constant, Arne Knudsen and Jules Paivio. About a dozen are still alive across the country. For more than sixty years they and their comrades were ignored by the Canadian government. Funding for the Ottawa monument came entirely from private donations.