Manitoba premier says toppled statues of queens will be rebuilt

Statues of two queens that were torn down by protesters on the Manitoba legislature grounds will be rebuilt, Premier Brian Pallister said Wednesday.

“Tearing down is a lot simpler than building up,” Pallister said at his first news conference since the statues were pulled down on Canada Day.

He added that he felt “disgust and disappointment” at the vandalism. “I believe that Canada has been, and will always be, I hope, a nation that is an example to those around the world of our dedication to building.”

The statues were tied with ropes and hauled to the ground during a demonstration over the deaths of Indigenous children at residential schools.

The statue of Queen Victoria, larger and placed prominently near the main entrance to the legislature grounds, had its head removed. The head was recovered the next day from the nearby Assiniboine River.

A smaller statue of Queen Elizabeth close to the lieutenant-governor's residence was toppled but left largely intact.

Assessments of the damage are ongoing, Pallister said.

The statue of the current Queen is to be put back in the same place, he said, but the one of Queen Victoria may move to a different spot on the legislature grounds and its wording may be updated to help people understand “more fully the history as it's been interpreted by modern view.”

The Progressive Conservative government promised last year to erect a statue of Chief Peguis to commemorate his signing of the first treaty in Western Canada in 1817, granting land along the Red River to settlers. It would be the first statue of a First Nations person on the legislature grounds.

Pallister said the plan has always been to update some of the language used on monuments so they more accurately reflect history.