Ontario government offers to take Sir John A. Macdonald statue removed in Victoria
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is offering to give a new home to the statue honouring the first Prime Minister of Canada that was removed from the City Hall building in Victoria, BC last week.
“Sir John A. Macdonald played a central role in our national story,” said Ford on Twitter.
“As one of the Fathers of Confederation, he founded our nation. That’s why our government wrote to the Mayor of Victoria to say we’d be happy to give Sir John A. a new home here in Ontario.”
Sir John A. Macdonald played a central role in our national story. As one of the Fathers of Confederation, he founded our nation. That’s why our government wrote to the Mayor of Victoria to say we’d be happy to give Sir John A. a new home here in Ontario. https://t.co/VRNVjj9F0e
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) August 13, 2018
The statue of Macdonald was removed from outside Victoria City Hall on August 11. Victoria City Council voted to take the statue down due to MacDonald’s role as a leader of violence against Indigenous peoples.
Following the removal, Ontario MPP Sylvia Jones said the Ford government wrote to Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps about relocating the statue to Ontario.
Our government let the City of Victoria know that we are willing and able to give Sir John A. Macdonald’s statue a home in Ontario. History matters and we need to acknowledge the important role Sir John A. Macdonald played in Canada’s and Ontario’s history. pic.twitter.com/qnIzdGVG6a
— Sylvia Jones (@SylviaJonesMPP) August 13, 2018
“History matters and we need to acknowledge the important role Sir John A Macdonald played in Canada and Ontario’s history,” tweeted Jones.
In a statement released on August 8, Helps said the statue would be stored in a city facility after its removal.
“We do not propose to erase history but rather to take the time through the process of truth-telling and reconciliation as part of the Witness Reconciliation Program to tell this complex and painful chapter of Canadian history in a thoughtful way,” said Helps.