Macdonald united Canada
Re Protesters are indeed justified in tarnishing colonial statues, Opinion, July 24
Is Ushnish Sengupta, an educator, really serious when he suggests renaming Dundas Square in honour of one of the protesters who vandalized the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald at Queen’s Park?
If it were not for Sir John A., we could very easily be living in a country headed by a narcissistic, dishonest and jingoistic billionaire.
We have all learned in our Canadian history courses about the War of 1812 and the Fenian raids of the 1860s and 70s. What is not well emphasized is that there was, from the time of the American Revolution up until the First World War, an underlying fear of an American invasion.
During this period, the U.S was expanding westward and acquiring lands that formerly belonged to Mexico. Thomas Jefferson is quoted as saying that taking over Canada would be a simple matter of marching.
In the mid-19th century, under the expansionist policies of U.S. president James Polk, a series of difficult negotiations resulted in the establishment of the U.S.-Canada border at the 49th parallel.
Much later, Teddy Roosevelt showed his true hegemonic colours when he said: “We’d love to take over Canada, but it’s just too darn big.”
Sir John A. and other leaders of the time realized that, in order to secure our country, a railroad linking British settlements on the west coast to the newly formed Dominion in the East had to be built.
Although there was a huge scandal and many communities were treated unfairly, the job was done. Today, we have a united Canada “from sea to sea to sea.” Bob Bryant, Fenelon Falls, Ont.