Macdonald brings two solitudes together

PLANTE IS NOT INTERESTED IN HISTORY AND CONTEXT — BASTIEN

Sir John A. Macdonald played a critically important role in founding Canada and in leading it as prime minister for almost 20 years. Over the past few years, however, he has fallen out of fashion. His legacy has come under sudden and severe revisionism as new interpretations of his role have emerged, and monuments in his honour have been defaced across the country. Has the new wave gone too far? In recognition of his 206th birthday on Jan. 11, the National Post is revisiting the Macdonald record with pieces by notable Canadian thinkers, in a series curated by author/academic Patrice Dutil, who has written extensively on Macdonald.

The woke ideology has been slowly taking control of the Canadian left in the past few years. True to form, the campus radicals showed how they are always eager to import American debates about American culture and history, as if we were the 51st state of the Union. Frustrated, the more radical fringe of that movement has resorted to damage or destroy statues of famous people, accusing them of being racist and genocidal. Across Canada, statues of John A. Macdonald have been targeted on numerous occasions, not least in downtown Montreal, where one was spectacularly toppled last summer. The scene was caught on camera and instantly refuelled the debate about our first prime minister’s legacy. Ironically, this event went a long way to turn the old Tory leader from a sort of villain in Quebec to a more sympathetic “beyond-the-grave” victim of political correctness.

The political class in Quebec City condemned the toppling of the statue unanimously and unequivocally. For me, this was the correct reaction. Moving the statue elsewhere or removing it altogether would be a victory for those using violence for political purposes.

The reaction of Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante was more perplexing. The leftwing politician certainly condemned the vandalism but, at the same time, took the time to put things into her own perspective, stating that she also understood and shared “the motivation of citizens who want to live in a more just and inclusive society.” By saying this, she clearly signalled that Macdonald was guilty of racism. That, of course, is true. However, Macdonald was racist like the vast majority of the people living in Canada and in the West during the 19th century. But Plante is not interested in history and context. By attacking Macdonald, she merely catered to her so-called “progressive/ woke” base.

Whatever Plante’s supporters thought of what happened, a majority of Quebecers are against the toppling of statues. According to a poll conducted in September of 2020, 47 per cent of the people in the province said they were categorically opposed to the removal of statues of people, regardless of whether they held racist views; 32 per cent held the opposite view. This percentage was similar to that of other provinces and to the country as whole.

To an extent, this result was a surprise. As in English Canada, John A. Macdonald is remembered in Quebec as the Father of Confederation. But he is also remembered as the prime minister responsible for the hanging of Louis Riel. “He shall hang though every dog in Quebec bark in his favour,” the prime minister might have said at the time, an utterance that has never been forgotten nor forgiven (and, in fairness, never actually proven). With the rise of the independence movement in the 1960s, he also became a bêtenoire for many because he was the Father of Confederation. This is probably why delinquents targeted his statue in 1992, painting the letters “FLQ” on it.

With Macdonald already controversial in Quebec’s collective memory, one could have expected that a lot of people in the province would have been in favour of removing the statue, or at least more in favour than the rest of the country. The rise of the anti- racist movement in its different forms probably explained why it turned out not to be the case. In Quebec as elsewhere, people understand that the historical memory of anyone who is white and of European descent has become a target of hate. In the U. K., a statue of Winston Churchill was been spoiled. In the United States, even Abraham Lincoln has not been spared. In Quebec, a few weeks before John A.’s statue was toppled, a monument commemorating Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, a long- celebrated figure who died defending New France against the Iroquois, was also damaged. In a communiqué released to the media, the perpetrators said that Dollard represented “Christian fascism.”

This event showed Quebecers that their cultural heritage is now also under attack. Just like Macdonald, Dollard is guilty simply because he was white. It did not matter what he did, what he did not do, or what he should have done. This is why the majority of Quebecers refuse to remove Macdonald’s statue. If this controversy had taken place in the 1990s, the attitude of many in the province would probably have been very different. If only momentarily, the radical left has accomplished the practically impossible: to rally the two solitudes behind the old leader.

Macdonald ... is guilty simply because he was white.