Statue of ‘racist’ Halifax founder could come down after 80 years in park

The name of a British military officer once lauded as Halifax’s founder is splashed across the city, serving as a constant reminder to the Mi’kmaq community of their ancestors who died under his scalping proclamation more than 260 years ago, says Mi’kmaq elder Daniel Paul. A statue of Edward Cornwallis sits in a park that bears his name, not far from Cornwallis Street. Cornwallis, a governor of Nova Scotia, founded Halifax in 1749 and issued the cash bounty that same year, which included Mi’kmaq men, women and children. He also had soldiers give the Mi’kmaqs blankets infected with smallpox. “It would be the same as a Jewish person walking down the street in Germany and seeing a statue of Hitler,” Paul said. Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil has agreed to discuss options for the three-metre statue that has long been viewed as racist by the Mi’kmaq community and beyond. A spokeswoman for McNeil said the premier plans to meet with Halifax Mayor Mike Savage to discuss the statue, which has stood in the downtown park for more than 80 years. The Canadian Press