A covered statue of Canada’s first prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald has been unveiled in Queen’s Park after it was boarded up for nearly five years following protests, but some Torontonians are questioning whether it should be displayed at all.
On Wednesday, the city unveiled the statue, which showcases the former prime minister who was in office from from 1867 to 1873, and again from 1878 to 1891.
Since July 2020, the statue was covered with plywood after protesters threw paint at it while speaking out against the murder of George Floyd and the country’s history with residential schools.
Macdonald has been considered a national historic person by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada since 1927. As the country’s first prime minister, he had a significant role in its early “nation-building” efforts, overseeing the mass settlement by Euro-Canadians, creating the permanent military force and expanding it to the Pacific and the Arctic.
Despite that, the leader also had a significant role in shaping policies that impacted Indigenous peoples in the 1800s, including the establishment of residential schools, which, according to the Government of Canada, took more than 150,000 Indigenous children from their families to attend these schools up until the late 1900s.
After uncovering his statue this week, it now has a new protective coating that keeps paint from sticking to it, as well as added legislative security details, according to CTV News.
But some Torontonians are not happy about the return of the controversial figure’s display.
While some suggest that the statue should be displayed in a less public environment, others question whether it should be showcased at all.
“Just put it in a museum. Have the good and the bad for all to read. He doesn’t need to be in public, but should not be destroyed,” one Reddit user said.
“Take it off the literal pedestal it’s currently on. Stick it in a corner with a plaque telling the actual history. And then put someone actually deserving of the honour up there,” another user added.
“Removing a statue does not erase someone from history. It’s just saying that we don’t necessarily need to celebrate someone who, while being an important figure in our history, did many questionable things,” a different user pointed out.
Meanwhile, some residents believe that despite the controversies, Macdonald should still be displayed as an important historic figure.
“Pretty much all politicians historically were horrible people. The kind of people who create countries tend to be sharks. Are we supposed to just toss out our own history?” One Reddit user asked.
“Nobody in this country would be here now without the events that preceded current times. Defacing statues and deleting history won’t change any of that,” another user said.
