Historica Canada has taken down a positive video about former prime minister John A. Macdonald from its YouTube channel because of feedback from educators on his controversial legacy. Historica Canada confirmed to True North on Thursday the Heritage Minute about Macdonald was taken down on purpose. The actor portraying Macdonald said in the video people should imagine a united country. “To the east, the Atlantic provinces,” said the actor. “Then Upper and Lower Canada, across the Prairies, to the Rockies, and beyond.”.In this new country, the actor said it would be made one with a railway and go from sea to sea. He added the time for union is now. Historica Canada Director of Branding and Digital Media Chantal Gagnon said the video was made before current controversies about Macdonald entered the national conversation. “This Minute was produced in 2015 in advance of Canada’s sesquicentennial,” said Gagnon to True North. “The more intense discussions and subsequent controversies regarding Macdonald’s treatment of indigenous peoples had not yet taken place.” Since 2015, more written materials have come out about his role in starting famines, detaining indigenous people, and establishing residential schools. These controversies have included leftist activists vandalizing and tearing down statues dedicated to him and a Canadian government department scrubbing his biography. His former residence the Bellevue House National Historic Site in Kingston, ON, has created a decolonized tour. Gagnon said unidentified educators convinced Historica Canada to take down the video. “To present a Minute, particularly given their extensive use in schools, without mentioning these other aspects of his time in office is to provide an incomplete image lacking proper context,” she said. “This view was reflected in some feedback from educators.” Because of the controversies, she said it “put the Macdonald Minute on hiatus while we assess what other accompanying content we can provide in order to offer a more complete treatment.” Its goal is to educate Canadians on the positives and negatives in Canada’s history. With this production, Gagnon pointed out it will require some changes to better portray him. “In the case of Macdonald, an appropriate treatment is to recognize both his many accomplishments while in office, including his key role in Confederation, while also acknowledging those areas, particularly in the treatment of indigenous peoples, where his legacy is — to say the least — controversial,” she said. A Toronto political science professor said in May Bellevue House was reopened with an emphasis on identity politics. READ MORE: Prof condemns warped portrayal of John A. Macdonald at Bellevue HouseBellevue House was built by Canadian business executive Charles Hales in 1840 and made in the Tuscan Villa style. It was rented from 1848 to 1849 by Macdonald as a home for he, his wife, and their son. After six years of renovations, Parks Canada reopened the house on Victoria Day. Toronto Metropolitan University politics and public administration professor Patrice Dutil first visited as a Grade 7 student more than 50 years ago and was disappointed at the latest presentation.
