The Adam Beck Memorial is a memorial in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 in honour of the founder of Ontario Hydro

Ontario Hydro

Ontario Hydro was the official name from 1974 of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario which was established in 1906 by the provincial Power Commission Act to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity generated by private companies already operating at Niagara...

, Sir Adam Beck

Adam Beck

Sir Adam Beck was a politician and hydroelectricity advocate who founded the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario.-Biography:...

. The status was commissioned in August 1929 and designed by Emanuel Hahn

Emanuel Hahn

Emanuel Otto Hahn was a German-born Canadian sculptor and coin designer. He taught and later married Elizabeth Wyn Wood. He co-founded and was the first president of the Sculptors' Society of Canada....

. Unveiled in September 1934, its inscription reads: "Erected by the Corporation of the City of Toronto and the Toronto Hydro Electric Commission in grateful commemoration of the public services of Sir Adam Beck, KT. LLD. MLA., whose labours have ensured that the citizens of his native province under co-operative municipal ownership shall enjoy the benefits of low cost electrical energy derived from water power resources to serve the industrial and domestic needs of the Province of Ontario. Nippigon, Trent, Eugenia, Severn, Muskoka, Rideau, Nipissing, Niagara, Queenston-Chippawa." It is located at University Avenue

University Avenue (Toronto)

University Avenue is a major north-south road in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At its north end, University Avenue is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building. The eight-lane wide street is the location for several hospitals, numerous office buildings, Osgoode Hall and the Four Seasons...

 and Queen Street West

Queen Street West

Queen Street West describes both the western branch of Queen Street, a major east-west thoroughfare, and a series of neighbourhoods or commercial districts, situated west of Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Queen Street begins in the west at the intersection of King Street, The...

.

Ontario College of Art & Design

Ontario College of Art & Design

OCAD University is Canada's largest and oldest educational institution for art and design. It is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on McCaul Street beside the Art Gallery of Ontario...

 public art professor Eldon Garnet

Eldon Garnet

Eldon Garnet is a multidisciplinary artist and novelist based in Toronto and a professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design. From 1975–1990 he was the editor of Impulse, a Canadian magazine of art and culture...

has criticized the memorial, noting that "most people don't know who Adam Beck was. It's just this large statue that represents large, male power."