Is Sir John A. monument in Gore Park history?

School name vote leads to statue talk

The fate of Sir John A. Macdonald’s statue in Hamilton — even his name — is caught up in a national debate over whether such memorials whitewash the oppression of Indigenous peoples.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario has voted to ask school boards to strip his name from all schools, arguing Canada’s first prime minister was the “architect of genocide against Indigenous peoples” for his role in creating the Indian Act and residential schools.

This comes as debates rage nationwide over the future of monuments to historical Canadian leaders, many of them earning new scrutiny for their treatment of Indigenous peoples.

The days of Sir John A. Macdonald school in Hamilton are numbered, but only because it is slated to close in 2019, said public board chair Todd White.

“It’s unlikely we’d rename the school before it closes,” said White, adding the board will hear union concerns when deciding names for a hoped-for new elementary school on the site.

“When it comes to learning lessons from our past, the positive and the negative, we’re all ears.”

Unlike in Halifax — where some protesters threatened to topple a statue of controversial founder Edward Cornwallis — no one has formally asked Hamilton council to remove the 124-year-old bronze statue of Macdonald in Gore Park.

But Coun. Aidan Johnson said he expects the future of the statue to “be part of the conversation” as the city embarks on formal consultation through its new urban Indigenous strategy.

“Is the statue something we have to talk about? Absolutely,” said Johnson, who expects a broader conversation about “Indigenous representation” in public art. “My opinion (on the statue) now is we have to listen to Indigenous voices.”

The statue has always been a “big problem for many” in the Indigenous community, said Christine Joseph-Davies, incoming president of the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre. She noted Indigenous residents have protested at the statue in the past, most recently during celebrations of Macdonald’s 200th birthday.

“How can we showcase this guy who essentially tortured Aboriginal people?” she asked.

That protest in 2015 relocated a celebration at the statue by the Hamilton-based Sir John A. Macdonald Society. Members moved the party to a local pub instead.

At the time, society president Robin McKee said he deserved recognition as “the founding father of our country,” noting his dedication to linking disparate future provinces by rail and his role in writing the British North America Act.

“If the guy was not born, we would not be Canada.”

Biographer Richard Gwyn has argued in articles Macdonald was comparatively progressive for the time and is a “scapegoat” for racist policies and attitudes that were common among politicians and residents in a fledgling Canada.

Opinions differ among city councillors on how to deal with the historical conundrum.

“I would be OK with seeing it go,” said Coun. Matthew Green. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to glorify