City council in Regina has ordered the removal of a statue of Canada’s founding Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald from Victoria park..The statue will be removed for a least a year while politicians try and figure out what to do with it..The move has caused outrage by people who said it is an attempted to rewrite history..Saskatchewan senator and Regina resident Denise Batters wrote the council a letter before the vote urging them not to remove the statue..“We must not erase our history – we should add to it, and we should give it full context,” Batters said..Batters called the statue was “an enduring symbol of the promise offered by Confederation.”.She called Macdonald “a product of his time.”.He was prime minister from 1867-73 and 1878-91..Councillors Cheryl Stadnichuk, Landon Mohl, Jason Mancinelli, Shanon Zachidniak, Dan LeBlanc, Andrew Stevens and Mayor Sandra Masters, voted to move the statue from the park. Councillors Bob Hawkins, Terina Shaw, John Findura and Lori Bresciani, were against. .A report by city administrators said the statute ignores the negative impacts Macdonald’s policies and initiatives have had on indigenous peoples..“These policies include use of day schools and residential schools as tools of assimilation, relocation of Indigenous peoples away from traditional hunting and fishing areas to make room for European settlement, and an inadequate and often corrupt system for delivering rations to reserves,” the report said. .It will cost $25,000 to $35,000 to remove the statue, treat the site and engage the public. .Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
City council in Regina has ordered the removal of a statue of Canada’s founding Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald from Victoria park..The statue will be removed for a least a year while politicians try and figure out what to do with it..The move has caused outrage by people who said it is an attempted to rewrite history..Saskatchewan senator and Regina resident Denise Batters wrote the council a letter before the vote urging them not to remove the statue..“We must not erase our history – we should add to it, and we should give it full context,” Batters said..Batters called the statue was “an enduring symbol of the promise offered by Confederation.”.She called Macdonald “a product of his time.”.He was prime minister from 1867-73 and 1878-91..Councillors Cheryl Stadnichuk, Landon Mohl, Jason Mancinelli, Shanon Zachidniak, Dan LeBlanc, Andrew Stevens and Mayor Sandra Masters, voted to move the statue from the park. Councillors Bob Hawkins, Terina Shaw, John Findura and Lori Bresciani, were against. .A report by city administrators said the statute ignores the negative impacts Macdonald’s policies and initiatives have had on indigenous peoples..“These policies include use of day schools and residential schools as tools of assimilation, relocation of Indigenous peoples away from traditional hunting and fishing areas to make room for European settlement, and an inadequate and often corrupt system for delivering rations to reserves,” the report said. .It will cost $25,000 to $35,000 to remove the statue, treat the site and engage the public. .Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
