Sir John A. Macdonald Statue im Queen’s Park, um nach 5 Jahren aufgedeckt zu werden

I think it should go (John A. MacDonald was a drunkard who explicitly believed genocidal things about the indigenous population, he also very strongly believed that provincial parliaments like Queens Park should be disempowered to the benefit of the federal government) but the big scandal here is that it just sat under a big box for five years, neither maintained nor remove.

Instead of making a decision one way or another – about what should be in a public park, if we want to commemorate someone like McDonald – and standing by it, the provincial government just waffled and fudged hoped that if they didn’t make a choice it would go away on its own. Which by the looks of things it has.

It’s hard to imagine what other country could have this kind of performative, shameless self-hating of the person most important to its existence as an independent nation.

Glad this silly episode is finally over.

I don’t think we should get rid of the statue. It shouldn’t be hidden in a museum. But it should definitely be lowered from it’s pedestal (literally). The statue needs to be recontextualized with a history lesson. Build up a monument around the lowered statue to the complex history of Canada and the generational trauma created by Macdonald’s ruthless policies. We don’t need to pretend like our past didn’t happen. But it certainly needs to have added context. This guy was pivotal in the creation of Canada. But he was far from a Saint and deserves no such status. He should be remembered for exactly who he was and it should be taught in a way that encourages us all to have more empathy and to be better versions of ourselves as we co create a better future for all Canadians. He doesn’t deserve to be honoured. That said, there are many other Canadians in our history that we should be making statues of and celebrating.