The Canadian Historical Association wants to rename an annual writing award so it's no longer associated with the country's first prime minister.
The association's elected council wants to change the title of the Sir John A. Macdonald Prize to the CHA Prize for Best Scholarly Book in Canadian History.
The $5,000 prize recognizes non-fiction writing that's been deemed to make a significant contribution to the study of Canadian history. It's awarded annually at an event at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.
In a statement about the proposal, CHA president Adele Perry wrote that it's the responsibility of historians to think not only about the lives of significant Canadian figures, but about what their commemoration continues to mean.
In August, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario also called for Macdonald's name to be removed from schools in the province. The federation said Macdonald "has been celebrated based on an incomplete version of Canadian history" and that he "played a key role in developing systems that perpetuated genocide against Indigenous people."
Members of the Canadian Historical Association will vote on renaming the prize at its annual meeting in May.
