Long road still ahead to determine future of Prime Ministers Path

A new list of recommendations has been published as the future of a contentious art project remains uncertain.

The Prime Ministers Path statue collection began in 2013 when a group of citizens raised money to create a testament to a part of Canada’s political history. The project initially called for bronze art pieces depicting 22 former Prime Ministers. Kitchener’s Victoria Park was the Prime Ministers Path’s first potential home, but city council rejected the idea after receiving strong opposition. Wilfrid Laurier University offered to host the statues, but backtracked months later after a petition started by Laurier professor Jonathan Finn began to gain traction.

In 2016, the installation found a home in Wilmot Township thanks to a unanimous council decision to place the statues in front of Castle Kilbride in Baden. The decision was made without public consultation. Mayor Les Armstrong said the public wasn’t asked because the township wasn’t paying for anything, just simply offering space. The first statue depicting Sir John A. MacDonald was installed.

The next year, three more statues featuring Sir Robert Borden, William L. Mackenzie King and Lester B. Pearson were erected. In 2018, Kim Campbell’s statue joined the growing display.

In 2020, the statue of Sir John A. MacDonald was covered in red paint and concerned community members staged sit-ins to express their disappointment with how the project was being handled.

In July of that year, council voted to undertake a public engagement project, and the statue of Sir John A. MacDonald was moved to storage.

Four additional statues were supposed to be added that year, but they were postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic and then put off again pending the review.

In 2021, First Peoples Group put together a report urging council to consider immediately removing the statues and discontinuing any future expansion or investment in the project “as it exists today.”

Report overview

Over the last eight months, a working group held public meetings, circulated surveys and polls and collected feedback from more than 300 people. The result of that work has been compiled into a report containing six recommendations that will be presented to Wilmot council during a special meeting on May 12 at 6 p.m.

The report was published online ahead of the meeting.

A summary of the findings notes, “The work required to deliver the recommendations of the Working Group is not within the mandate of a municipality and is beyond the capacity of the current organization. A project of this scope and scale would be a challenge for a major city with dedicated resources within an established Culture Department.”

The report also states the budget for community engagement has already outstripped its initial estimate. The expected budget was set at $60,000, however, the total cost of engagement thus far comes in at $102,367.

Recommendations

The report contains six recommendations if the township wants to move forward with the project.

The first recommendation involves establishing a cross-sector steering committee to guide what happens next and ensure diverse voices are being represented.

“If the intention of Council is to move forward and a Community Steering Committee is established, it is recommended that it be an independent body not reporting to Council. The development and coordination of the work of a committee of this nature is a full-time job requiring a unique set of skills that are not present at the Township,” the report said.

The second recommendation encourages whoever helms the project to look for public and private grants to fund the ongoing work and that no township operational funds should be used.

The third recommendation urges the inclusion of Indigenous and other diverse voices as co-creators throughout the process.

Education is the cornerstone of the fourth recommendation, noting any future installation requires resources, context and critical reflection.

The report authors recommended location be the next major consideration.

“Any display must happen in a space that invites intention engagement, not passive viewing – the setting matters as much as the content,” the recommendation read. The report went on to say people should have the choice to engage with or avoid the statues and suggests natural buffers, such as trees or shrubs, or art interventions could give people the opportunity to bypass the display if they choose to.

The final recommendation centres around Truth and Reconciliation and said the project “must actively support truth-telling, healing and long-term reconciliation goals – not just symbolic gestures.”

What happens next?

Council will receive the working group’s recommendations during a special council meeting on May 12. Council will not be making any decisions about the future of the project during that meeting. After that, LURA, the company hired to help gather feedback and steer the conversation around the Prime Ministers Path, and the township will host a community gathering on May 28.

Feedback will be collected and presented to council, who are expected to make a decision about the next steps during a meeting in June.