All fired up

Cornwallis statue should not be destroyed, say history re-enactors

The “Good, the Bad and the Ugly” is more than a Sergio Leone movie starring Clint Eastwood.

The good, the bad, and the ugly sums up much of human history, including the history of Nova Scotia.

That history recently made headlines when protesters surrounded the statue of Edward Cornwallis in Halifax, demanding its removal.

Cornwallis is the founder of Halifax, but he also issued a bounty on the Mi’kmaq people, putting a price on their scalps.

Two British American Revolutionary War re-enactors camped at the Wallace and Area Museum for the weekend think a compromise can be found with regards to the polarizing statue.

“I think the statue should be in a museum,” said David Olie, a member of the Fencible Regiment, which, in the 1700s, had 18 men take up land grants in the Wallace area following the American Revolutionary War.

Olie is the Town Crier for Yarmouth.

“I don’t think it should be destroyed because it is a part of our history, and fairly recent history, because it was only put up in 1931,” added Olie. “I think it should be put in some kind of a place where if anybody wants to

see it they can go see it, but it’s not on public display that everyone has to see it.”

Peter Ashley of Dutch Settlement is a living history re-enactor with the 82nd Regiment.

“I think it should stay there,” said Ashley. “Despite all the wrongs, he is responsible for founding Halifax.”

Ashley has been a re-enactor for 25 years, and also taught history for 34 years.

He says the City of Halifax should portray a more balanced history at the statue site in Cornwallis Square.

“Maybe they could add two more statues, one for the French and one for the Mi’kmaq, and put plaques there telling the truth about all three.”

Ashley believes history is very complex and needs to show all sides, warts and all.

“The problem with history is

people in the present tend to apply their present morals, values, and principles to what happened in the past and that’s why they often find it so offensive.”

Although Olie would like the statue placed where people don’t have to see it, he says he could live with Ashley’s compromise.

“As long as the whole story is being told, instead of selected parts, that’s the best way to do history.”

DAvE MAThIESON/SALTWIRE NETWORK David Olie, left, and Peter Ashley would like to see the statue of Edward Cornwallis preserved in Halifax as a part of history but have different ideas on how it should be displayed. Olie is the Town Crier for Yarmouth and Ashley has been a re-enactor...

DAvE MAThIESON/SALTWIRE NETWORK Cannons were shot at the Wallace and Area Museum during a live firing exercise, a living history re-enactment hosted by the 84th Regiment of Foot 2nd Battalion Regimental Association. Members of the 84th regiment, a Scottish regiment, settled in Pictou...

DAvE MAThIESON/SALTWIRE NETWORK Muskets were fired at the Wallace museum.The muskets are replicas made from the mould of the original muskets used in the American Revolutionary War. Musket balls were not used during the live firing.