The Ontario government says it would be happy to acquire a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald which was recently removed from the City Hall building in Victoria, B.C.
The bronze sculpture of Canada’s first prime minister was removed on Saturday, in what Victoria’s mayor called a gesture of reconciliation. Indigenous groups have argued that Macdonald is disproportionately honoured in Canada given his role in creating the residential school system and otherwise harming Indigenous people.
While supported by Indigenous groups, the statue’s removal has also drawn criticism, particularly from conservative politicians.
Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer described turfing the statue as an attempt to “erase history” and said Macdonald’s “mistakes” could be acknowledged even with the statue remaining in place.
Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government voiced similar opinions Monday when the matter came up in the provincial legislature.
Goldie Ghamari, the PC MPP representing the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton, said she was “shocked” by the decision made in Victoria, which she described as “political correctness run amok.”
She asked Sylvia Jones, the province’s minister for culture, sport and tourism, what the government would do “to preserve John A. Macdonald’s legacy and encourage a more fulsome teaching of Canadian history.”
Jones responded that the province has written to Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps to say the province would be “happy” to find the statue a new home in Ontario.
“History matters, and we need to acknowledge the important role that Sir John A. Macdonald played in Canada and Ontario’s history,” Jones said. “He did more to found our nation than any other Father of Confederation.”
Jones went on to say that Macdonald’s record “is a cause for much discussion” and encouraged Ontarians to visit statues to learn more about Canadian history.
“History is complicated. People are complicated,” she said.
It was not immediately clear if Helps has responded to Ontario’s offer. The mayor has previously said that the statue, which was created in 1981, will be stored in her city “until an appropriate way to recontextualize Macdonald is determined.”
“We do not propose to erase history but rather to take the time through the process of truth-telling and reconciliation … to tell this complex and painful chapter of Canadian history in a thoughtful way,” Helps said in a blog post.
The statue was replaced outside Victoria City Hall by a temporary plaque which commemorates Macdonald as both Canada’s first prime minister and “a leader of violence against Indigenous peoples.”
The plaque was vandalized over the weekend, with a large X being scratched across its face. The two lines in the X meet near the word “violence.”
Helps said the vandalism “was to be expected” given the intensity of the debate around the statue’s removal.
“Emotions are running high,” she told reporters.
“What we will be doing in the next few months … is continuing the conversation with the community about reconciliation.”
With files from CTV Vancouver Island
