Canada’s founder oppressed Indigenous peoples. Should his statues stand?
The “Prime Ministers Path” circles a grassy field outside this town hall. Begun in 2016, the path was meant to lead Canadians on a tour of their history told through bronze statues of their 22 former leaders.
The first statue to go up along the trail was that of Sir John A. Macdonald, often called the father of Canada since he oversaw confederation over 150 years ago. Four others followed in 2017 and 2018. This summer four more were supposed to go up, making nine.
Instead, amid vandalization, sit-ins, and heated virtual town council meetings, the council decided to take Macdonald’s down.
Today it sits in an undisclosed location and the entire project is on hold as Wilmot Township, in rural Ontario, grapples with Macdonald’s other legacy – as a key architect of the residential school system
“They’re there for you to interact with”Rethinking Macdonald’s legacy“A very difficult time”