Regina’s Sir. John A. Macdonald statue to be removed, temporarily put in storage

A familiar bronze face in Victoria Park is to be removed.

Regina city council has voted in favour of putting the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald into storage until a new home for it can be found.

“It’s a very difficult decision but at the end of the day the feedback from the marginalized communities that the engagement was undertaken with was fairly clear,” Regina Mayor Sandra Masters said following the 7-4 vote.

“I think I would use the words of one of the chiefs that I had a conversation with which was, ‘Don’t lose the opportunity for education,’ and so the commitment I have, and the other councillors have, is to be sure we find a home for it that is respectful.”

She said council isn’t trying to erase history.

“This is not cancel culture. We’re interested in putting it in a place of education and respect for contributions to history as well as some of the legacy, which is perhaps negative for some of our community,” Masters said.

She said she was unclear exactly when the statue would be put into storage.

Council spent nearly four hours Wednesday hearing from delegates and debating an amendment and referral when it came to the controversial statue.

Macdonald was Canada’s first prime minister and is one of the key figures in the creation of the country. But his role in the creation and running of residential schools across the country has led to a call to remove statues celebrating him.

City administration came forward with the recommendation to put the statue into storage for the time being. A public consultation process will take place as to what the next steps will be.

Many delegates spoke to council in favour of the statue’s removal.

John Hopkins, the chair of Reconciliation Regina, said the call is to remove the statue, not to destroy it. He says it is offensive to many people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

David Garneau said there aren’t any statues of Macdonald left in Western Canada.

There were a couple speakers who were opposed to the motion.

Trevor Lakness said he doesn’t have faith the city will put up the statue in another location, pointing out a statue of Louis Riel has been in storage for many years.

Ralph Watzke, a self-proclaimed history enthusiast, said there were a lot of people who were opposed to the removal of the statue. Watzke said genocide is mass murder of a population and it does not appear to have occurred in Canada.

Ward 6 Coun. Dan LeBlanc asked Watzke if he felt residential schools had a net positive impact and Watzke said yes, saying he has heard from some Indigenous friends who attended the schools and found them to be a positive experience.

He said one lady told him it got her out of an abusive home and the nuns treated her and other classmates with respect and helped her get an education.

Ward 2 Coun. Bob Hawkins brought forward an amendment to keep the statue in place until a new home was decided but it was defeated.

Ward 4 Coun. Lori Bresciani asked for a referral so more public input could be done on the statue, but that also was defeated.

The original recommendation passed 7-4 with Masters, Ward 1 Coun. Cheryl Stadnichuk, Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Stevens, LeBlanc, Ward 8 Coun. Shanon Zachidniak, Ward 9 Coun. Jason Mancinelli and Ward 10 Coun. Landon Mohl voting in favour of it.

Hawkins, Ward 7 Coun. Terina Shaw, Ward 5 Coun. John Findura and Bresciani voted against it.