Sir John A. Macdonald statue at Queen's Park visible to public for 1st time in 5 years

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 12, 2025 9:41 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

The nationalist tin erstwhile again spot the statue of John A. Macdonald extracurricular Queens Park. 

The statue had been surrounded by woody hoarding for the past 5 years. It was archetypal covered up successful 2020 aft demonstrators threw pinkish overgarment connected it amid question of protests crossed the state that took purpose astatine Macdonald arsenic Canadians grappled with the past of residential schools.

Workers took down the hoarding Wednesday aft a legislative committee voted to region the covering past month. 

"As Speaker, I admit the sensitivities surrounding the past of Canada's archetypal Prime Minister and I invited each Ontarians to explicit their views — peacefully," Speaker Donna Skelly said successful a connection astir the removal of the hoarding. 

"Violence and acts of vandalism volition not beryllium tolerated, and the Legislative Protective Service volition actively show the statue and grounds."

Children's shoes that were placed astatine the basal of the statue aft the find of imaginable unmarked graves connected the grounds of erstwhile residential schools were "carefully and respectfully" removed and stored anterior to the removal of the hoarding, the connection says. 

The question of what to bash with the monument of Canada's archetypal Prime Minister has been controversial.

Macdonald is considered an designer of the country's residential schoolhouse strategy that took Indigenous children from their families successful an effort to assimilate them. 

WATCH | The analyzable bequest of Canada's archetypal PM: 

The NDP's Sol Mamakwa is simply a residential schoolhouse survivor, and the lone First Nation member at Queen's Park. He has said the statue is simply a root of pain.

"It's not conscionable a statue," helium said past period aft the determination to uncover the statue was made. 

"It's a statue of oppression. It is simply a statue of colonialism. It is simply a statue of Indian residential schools."

Skelly says she hopes a committee volition o.k. a monument recognizing those who attended residential schools and said Mamakwa would beryllium invited to articulation that committee.