Canada losing more history with removal of Sir John A.’s statue

LETTERS

My ire was raised when the council of the City of Victoria was swayed by a vocal minority to remove the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald for a perceived indignity in the past. Where is the voice of us, the vast majority? Are we so easily cowed, or do we simply not want to leave our comfort zone?

Come on, people, wake up before we lose more of our history. This situation is another attempt to appease our indigenous people for an indignity against them so that the government will once again pour more money into their pockets.

Let us focus on all that we need to thank our first prime minister for. As one of the Fathers of Confederation, he travelled to England to procure the documents needed for our independence, returning with the BNA — British North America Act — by which we became an independent and sovereign nation on July 1, 1867. He was also responsible for all of the negotiations needed to complete the railway that connected Canada from the east coast to the west coast, a condition made by British Columbia for becoming a Canadian province in 1871 rather than an annexed part of the United States.

Within history mistakes are made which we must rise above so as not to become mired in the past.

The hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came here in the 1990s also suffered indignities, but they rose above them and availed themselves of the opportunities here to become productive citizens. Let us all work together to “Make Canada Great”!

Gerty Heinen

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