John A. Macdonald’s historic home in Kingston, ON, will be reopened for public “racism and sexism” tours at $9 a pop as of this Saturday. Parks Canada is reopening Bellevue House National Historic Site May 18 following pandemic lockdowns and $2.1 million renovations, per Blacklock’s Reporter. “Bring an open mind and open heart and join the discussion in this safe space,” said a Parks Canada statement.The department advised the tour “is for people looking to examine topics like social class structures, racism and sexism in Victorian Canada while looking closer at some of Macdonald’s political decisions.”It did not elaborate further on what visitors can expect from the experience. Parks Canada in a 2023 plan for the project said it was “on a journey to better understand and present some of the more complex and unrepresented facets of Sir John A. Macdonald.” Unrepresented facets include the fact the home is located on the “traditional territory of the Anishinaabe.”“Visitors can learn about and contend with Sr. John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, and reflect on Canadian history,” said the plan. “Every person coming for a visit to Bellevue House perceives Canada and its origins through their own lens: a country of refuge, a land symbolized by beloved icons or a place of pain representing oppression, inequality and intergenerational trauma.”“The historic site provides a place of contemplation on Canada’s colonial beginnings and the impacts of government policies in the development of the country.”Ontario-based indigenous contractor Inclusive Voices Inc. was paid $30,688 for “engagement” on Bellevue House National Historic Site. The consultant was hired to “assist with management planning consultations and engagement by reaching out to Indigenous communities,” said Parks Canada.Federal revision of tour content at Bellevue House follows the 2021 removal of a Library and Archives Canada web feature First Among Equals that honoured Macdonald and his successors in a “celebration of Canada’s prime ministers.” Deletion of the web pages reflected a 2019 cabinet paper that said official histories must address “colonialism, patriarchy and racism.”Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2020 told reporters he could “understand the impatience of people who want change” in revising Canadian history but drew the line at vandalism. His remarks followed the destruction of a Montréal statute honouring Macdonald.“It’s not up to a small group to decide unilaterally we cannot recognize or celebrate one person or another,” said Trudeau. “We need informed debate.”“I don’t think divisive debate or acts of vandalism like destroying a statue are going to move us ahead as a society. We’re seeing people trying to trigger culture wars and divide Canadians on these issues. We need to recognize John A. Macdonald did some very positive things in creating today’s Canada, but there are parts of that history – things he said, things he did – that we need to be far more critical of.”
