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A resolution to the question of whether the statue of Canada’s first prime minister should stay in Victoria Park is close, but the debate continues.
City council is set to vote on a recommendation to remove the statue of John A. Macdonald from the park and place it somewhere else in 2022.
Both supporters and critics of Macdonald are speaking out leading up to the vote.
Former Conservative Party leader and Regina-Qu’Appelle MP Andrew Scheer has been outspoken about the topic in the past, and he still holds firm on his position.
“While (Macdonald) certainly said and did things that are wrong, there is still a great deal of misinformation that is being attributed to his career,” Scheer said.
“I think it’s very important that we remember that no prime minister or historical figure is perfect and we honour our past leaders not for their mistakes, but for the good things they did and we learn from their actions, both good and bad.
Kerry Bellegarde-Opoonechaw, a Regina Indigenous activist, disagrees. She said Macdonald’s part in establishing residential schools and other discriminatory acts shouldn’t be honoured with a statue in downtown Regina.
“There’s a huge history behind (Macdonald) supporting trying to wipe us out and trying to make the Aryan race the greater race. We were the first people and I feel that I have a right to stand up and defend my bloodline,” she said.
Scheer said he believes Macdonald wasn’t a perfect person, but it’s still vital to honour him to remember Canada’s roots.
“If we look backwards with the lens of today, which public figures would survive? If we were to focus only on Mackenzie King’s rejection of Jewish refugees during World War 2, well then we might have to decide to take his picture off the $50 bill … Our parks, our monuments, our historical storytelling would become extremely sterile and blank if everyone who fails to meet a modern test of morality is removed from public display,” he elaborated.
“Having more historical storytelling in public places is better than less.”
Bellegarde-Opoonechaw said it’s still possible to honour history and move the statue, by explaining more context.
“I’m not just trying to tear it down … I would like to see it … in a museum or … the Government House, and he can be protected as well, because he’s undergone a lot of vandalism over the past. Maybe the public can open up their viewpoint and see what I’m trying to also do for their statue,” she said.
“We can tell (people) this was the leader of Canada, but a lot of his history we can reteach what he did wrong as well. If you’re honouring this person, then at least tell the whole story.”
Scheer agrees that more historical context is a good thing.
“I think it’s very important that we learn the horrible mistakes of the residential school system, for sure. That’s why I support telling more of that history so that people can understand all the aspects that were going on and learn from those mistakes, but John A. Macdonald did a lot of wonderful things for this country … That’s why we honour him,” he said.
“We don’t claim that any public figure is perfect.”
Council is to vote on the fate of the statue at a Wednesday meeting. If it votes to remove the statue, it will be placed in storage and consultations will begin for a new location, to be decided in the first three months of next year. If it votes against the recommendation, the statue will stay put.