Sir John A. Macdonald is considered the founding father of Canada: he united Upper and Lower Canada along with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to consolidate into a single country and after doing that became the country’s first Prime Minister.
There is narrative currently focused on the removal of the statue considering his involvement in colonialism and residential schools. In Saskatchewan two groups, Colonialism No More and Saskatchewan Coalition Against Racism, were/are looking to have the Macdonald statue – at Victoria Park – removed. In Ontario the Elementary Teachers’ Federation passed a motion to “examine and rename schools and buildings named after Sir John A. Macdonald.”
The focus on the statue comes after the Charlottesville rally regarding the Confederate military leader Robert E. Lee. Although the protest in Regina is to remove a statue, while the one in Charlottesville was apparently – they had no pamphlets or information on saving the statue, so I don’t know if that’s necessarily their true reasons of being there – to protest its removal the same questions come to mind: why do we erect statues and what does it mean when they’re taken down?
Statues have been around for the past 30,000 years and were created by numerous cultures around the world. Years after they’re created they may cause discussion like the Moai – the Easter Island human figures, which when first discovered were thought to be heads, but upon excavation-included bodies.
Overtime it can be difficult to know exactly what a statue is meant to symbolize, but the statues that have been erected in the past 100 to 200 years are still quite well known.
Statues are built as an effigy to an influential person or to commemorate a historical event. In American history, General Lee, is quite a prominent figure as he fought for the South during the Civil War – a time when brother fought brother and families were divided based on what they believed was right. Looking at the battles he won, General Lee was a great military strategist until his surrender.
Paul McIntire, the man who commissioned the statue of General Lee in Charlottesville in the early 1900s also financed a George Clark statue who served in the American Revolutionary War, a “Stonewall” Jackson statue – another Confederate general, and a statue of Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea.
So, although the Civil War isn’t the most positive historical event, it is a major event of the United States and the statue marks this time period. More importantly than having a statue, is what the teachings are surrounding the statue.
This is similar in a sense to Macdonald as although there is controversy, it was a different time. Today we are much more tolerant in society than what we once were. Colonialism was a part of the time period and there’s lots of countries/people that have done great things, but also have black marks if we attribute our current standards to them.
Although George Washington the first President of the United States is a forefather of the USA, he once owned slaves – and although in his will he left directions for the emancipation of his slaves, he was a slave owner.
Does that, a product of the time, mean that statues in his honour should also be removed?
I think statues of the past should be left, they create discussion, and teachings surrounding the person or event can be fleshed out fully. They serve as a reminder of our history.
In certain instances, like when Sadam Hussein’s statue was toppled in Iraq, there were more semblances to it because it was a country tearing down tyranny. Since then there’s been mixed feelings, however, and one individual - Kadhim Sharif Hassan Al-Jabbouri – who helped tear it downtold the BBC in 2016: "When I go past that statue, I feel pain and shame. I ask myself, why did I topple this statue. I'd like to put it back up, to rebuild it. I'd put it back up but I'm afraid I would be killed"
So, what is right? Can statues be left as symbols to learn from even if they’re controversial figures?
Prime Minister Trudeau said there’d be no renaming or removing John A. Macdonald statues and I do agree with this, as good or bad – it creates discussion.
