A Path Forward Exhibit
Public consultation has closed. The exhibit will be discussed at a special Committee of the Whole meeting on April 27. The staff report and meeting agenda can be found in "Important Links" on the right.
Background
The "Holding Court" sculpture is a bronze portrait created by artist Ruth Abernethy. The sculpture depicts a young Macdonald winning his first court case in the Picton Courthouse on October 8, 1834. A few months after that case, Macdonald became an attorney in Picton and began his law career. Macdonald practiced law in Picton until the summer of 1835 when he moved to Kingston and opened a law practice. Macdonald would go on to play a central role in Confederation and serve as Canada's first prime minister in 1867.
The Macdonald Project of Prince Edward County commissioned the "Holding Court" sculpture and presented it to the County of Prince Edward to celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Sir John A. Macdonald in 2015. The County installed the sculpture on Picton Main Street on Canada Day 2015.
The statue was moved to storage in 2019 after a change in ownership at the Picton Armoury, with the new owners paying for its relocation to the forecourt of the Picton Library. The statue's return in early 2020 became a catalyst for a community conversation that coincided with a national reckoning about Sir John A. Macdonald's past within the broader context of colonialism in Canada.
Following the discovery of unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Residential School in the summer of 2021, County Council held a special meeting where the public offered their comments. After hearing from the community, Council decided to remove the sculpture from Picton Main Street and directed staff to determine a future public location for the sculpture.
Proposed "Path Forward"
The County of Prince Edward is proposing "a path forward" whereby the "Holding Court" sculpture of Sir John A. Macdonald would be part of a permanent and evolving exhibit at Macaulay Church. The interactive exhibit would explore the local community’s reckoning with the national tragedy of the Indian Residential School system and encourage further reflection about the process of advancing truth and reconciliation.
The proposed plan for "A Path Forward" is informed by the deputations made at the special Council meetings in November 2020 and June 2021. The exhibit, developed in partnership with the Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na Language and Cultural Centre and the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, would feature three distinctive spaces:
First Space
The first space in the exhibit would include the "Holding Court" sculpture where visitors learn why and how the sculpture was commissioned. This space would also tell the story of how the sculpture ignited a community conversation around the national reckoning with the legacy of a school system that removed and separated 150,000 Indigenous children from their families and communities.
Second Space
The second space would tell the story of Chanie Wenjack curated by the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund. Chanie was a victim of the Indian Residential School system who died trying to walk the 600 kilometres back to his home and community. Gord Downie, renowned musician and former South Bay resident, was inspired to tell Chanie's story through music, art and film in hopes of encouraging all peoples in Canada to take action and move forward on the journey toward reconciliation.
Third Space
The third space would be curated by the Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na (TTO) Language and Cultural Centre and explore the local impact of residential schools, the impact on survivors, and the legacy that must be overcome on the path toward reconciliation.
About the partners
The Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na (TTO) Language and Cultural Centre was established in 2000 by a group of community members concerned with the revitalization of the Mohawk language in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. The organization's name means "keeping the words alive." Services provided by the organization include a nursery program, a Mohawk immersion elementary school, an adult learning program, and other community resources. TTO is a not-for-profit serving the Tyendinaga community and all of those seeking to learn about their proud culture.
Inspired by Chanie’s story and Gord’s call to build a better Canada, the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund aims to build cultural understanding and create a path toward reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. The Fund's goal is to improve the lives of Indigenous people by building awareness, education, and connections between all peoples in Canada.
I support having the statue outside the courthouse. It’s an appropriate location to put it for reflecting him as a lawyer. We need to stop projecting
"The County of Prince Edward is taking steps to establish and maintain respectful relationships and meaningful consultations with Indigenous communities." (www.thecounty.ca) The County has rightly declared its commitment to (Re)Conciliation and is trying to navigate a course that is not easy, nor short.
What to do about commemoration of our many-layered (settler) history is not easy, but the dialogue it brings can be healing when approached in a good way. Commemoration needs to balance confronting uncomfortable truths with celebrating achievements of the times. If relocation of "young John A." to an exhibit that offers the opportunity for that kind of ongoing healing dialogue, and reflects the broader consensus among Indigenous (Haudenosaunee, Anishinabeg, Métis) and non-Indigenous peoples (long-term and newcomers) in the County, then that is a good thing to do.
Many thanks,
I'm pretty impressed with the County's proposed "Path Forward" - especially with its choice of partners and its attention to "the local community’s reckoning with the national tragedy of the Indian Residential School system." My concerns about "Holding Court" were twofold. First, the statue's installation in front of the public library on Picton Main Street was an unwelcomed and unsettling intrusion for many people who just happened upon it or couldn't avoid it as they went about their daily lives. Second, its original sponsors and later supporters insisted on minimizing Macdonald's personal and political responsibility for designing and initiating a campaign of genocide against Indigenous Peoples, especially those living in the west.
Relocating the statue to Macaulay Church (or the Court House, as some have suggested here) will address my first concern. Realizing the vision for the "first space" will be challenging and potentially hugely rewarding. For many of us, the statue has represented a blatant denial of the Truth about Canada's founding and its "founding father". I wish us well.
I respect the many good things that Sir John A. contributed to this wonderful country in the 1800's. He has been unfairly targeted by groups as a result of attention to residential schools. Many, many prime ministers allowed residential schools to exist after Sir John A. but they have escaped the assault that has fallen on Canada's first prime minister. The churches that physically managed the schools have also not faced the objection that Sir John A. has. The statue is a beautiful piece of art depicting a young local lawyer who went on to unify this country. I would be in favour of its placement in front of the old court house.
If the Mohawks want a museum let them pay for it. Then they can decide what's in it. There is no reason tax payers of the County should foot the bill or the City should be involved.
The Holding Court sculpture rightly celebrates Sir John A as a young attorney and a prominent member of the Picton community in 1835, long before Confederation and even longer before decisions were taken by the Canadian Government regarding the residential school system (RSS). As such it should continue to be displayed in a prominent public stand alone setting. It seems to me the Courthouse in Picton would be an ideal location. Today's community should be grateful to the artist who created this sculpture and to the community group in the past who commissioned it.
If the community/municipality wants to create a monument/display regarding the Canadian Government residential school system and its effects then it should do so as a stand alone exhibit at some suitable location. That may be the Macaulay Church site.
Not to diminish the impact of the national residential school system but it is interesting that the County would choose to highlight/commemorate it given the fact there was no such school in the County. I support the recounting of history as it relates to our Indigenous people and commemorating it appropriately.
Sir John A as young lawyer in a small rural community vs SJA as a much older Prime Minister of Canada whose government made decisions on behalf of the nation 40-50 + years out from 1835, are two very very different entities.
Other subsequent Canadian PM's are as much or more complicit in decisions regarding the RSS. Particularly starting with Pierre Trudeau in the 1960's given his white paper on Canada's Indigenous peoples and his knowledge of the RSS impacts and his relationship with the Catholic Church who was the main contractor for delivery of the program. PM's following PET are also far from lily white regarding their dealings with RSS.
The Fifth Estate did a story on the Kamloops residential school called “The Reckoning”. I have no doubt that terrible things happened in the residential schools but unfortunately social media, self interest groups and the news media are being selective in their facts to prove their point of view. Unfortunately, mistruths and miscommunication will never lead to truth and reconciliation.
In the spirit of Listen- Learn - Educate, I present the following links as food for thought as public input is once again being solicited from the public in regards to the Sir John A statue.
1- If you're wondering what really happened on the reserve in Kamloops, I highly recommend this new article in the Dorchester Review by professor Jacques Rouillard, now Emeritus from the Université de Montréal.
https://www.dorchesterreview.ca/blogs/news/in-kamloops-not-one-body-has-been-found
2- Barbara Kay: What we don't know about unmarked graves at residential schools
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/barbara-kay-what-we-dont-know-about-unmarked-graves-at-residential-schools
3- Brian Giesbrecht and Tom Flanagan: Know your residential school history well
https://tnc.news/author/briangiesbrecht/
Children in schools across Canada are learning about the Indian residential schools through Secret Path, a 2016 graphic novel written by Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie and illustrated by Jeff Lemire. Downie also recorded a music album of the same name and an animated version of the story aired on CBC. Celebrated Canadian author Joseph Boyden penned a novella on the same subject titled Wenjack. It too is being widely used in Canadian classrooms.
However, most of what is written and shown in these accounts about the tragic death of an Ojibway boy named Chanie Wenjack – an alleged victim of the residential school system whose frozen body was found curled up beside railway tracks in northwestern Ontario on the morning of October 23, 1966 several days after he ran away from a former Indian residential school where he was boarding – is patently untrue.
4- the Chanie-Wenjack story
https://c2cjournal.ca/2017/10/the-sad-truth-about-chanie-wenjack/
5- Macdonald saved lives
https://c2cjournal.ca/2020/11/sir-john-a-macdonald-saved-more-native-lives-than-any-other-prime-minister/
I agreed with the decision to remove the Macdonald statue from its location in front of the public library on Picton Main Street, as the statue had become a lightning rod for controversy and rancour. However, I feel that it is important for the statue to be displayed again in the appropriate historical context so that the community can learn from this history and hopefully chart a better path forward.
I like the idea of multiple spaces and multiple historical perspectives to allow for an informed debate and discussion.
I think the plan for the first, second, and third spaces of the exhibit are a great way to acknowledge the trauma of Indigenous peoples as well as to inspire a positive path towards the future. It feels like some of the other commenters didn't read the description of the proposed exhibit, but I agree that having the "Holding Court" statue present is a way for us to identify the wrongs that have occurred in the past. People wanted the statue removed not just because it was John A. Macdonald (who benefited greatly from the systemic injustice against Indigenous peoples of the early Canadian government), but it was because Macdonald was presented as a "hero" with no flaws. By keeping the statue in the exhibit, we can identify the flaws of early Canadian systems and acknowledge we are still moving towards a brighter future in Canada that includes Indigenous justice and reconciliation. It's clear from the proposed plans that the focus of the exhibit is Indigenous peoples, as it should be. Excited to see the new statue by Ruth Abernathy.
So John A. Macdonald was our first Prime Minister. No one is perfect but he does deserve a modicum of respect. His statue should be on display for visitors. We don't have to condone all his actions and we could put a plaque stating this beside it. We are constantly bombarded on the retro tv channels about the political incorrectness of shows where the statement that the activities on show may not be condoned now but are presented for people to study it so that the actions are not to occur in the future. Same could be said for the statue. Bury/hide statue and history may be forgotten and we doomed to repeat the mistakes again.
What is the purpose of history? Humans are the only species on the planet that assembles physical or oral artifacts to transmit history. We can get history wrong in how we record it and in the meaning we give it. That does not mean we should erase it. That means we have to re-think how we record it and what that means for living life forward. I am reminded of the title story in Margaret Lawrence’s The Tomorrow Tamer. Young people in a village in Ghana struggle to build a bridge over a dangerous river that separates the village from the market town. The young man who champions building the bridge dies in an accident shortly before it is finished. Margaret Lawrence ends the story with a group of foreign tourists walking backward over the bridge while they take pictures (selfies). For the visitors the bridge has no history. We have a history. MacDonald was part of it. Our challenge is to tell it in ways that help visitors understand both our history and us, as we make tomorrow better than today. We can do that.
If we are to start removing reference to any persons or group of persons who committed what would be viewed as a crime today and thus tarnish their historical image or significance, is there any history that should be displayed anywhere but in a dark corner?
I can appreciate the outrage associated with residential schools, it is justified. Their existence nor their horrors were not just discovered despite the sensational news. No person nor persons are clean in the context of today, including indigenous peoples. Do we take down all monuments to history? Do we tear up all railroads because of the immigrants killed carelessly in their construction; because of the indigenous lands desecrated?
The path forward does not further history nor the history of the county. You may as well hang a banner to be seen as you enter the county reading the origin of residential schools.
put the statue back from where it was moved people need to grow up and realize times where different in macdonalds era it may not be proper now what happened but when things happened back then they thought they where doing good for the children who needed support their parents could not provide
Removed by moderator.
Sadly the truth still seems to be hard to come by. Council disregarded recommendation from it very own working group to move the John A MacDonald Statue. The statue was left in front of the library and became a target for vandalism, council finally decided for the safety of the statue it should be placed in storage until a more secure location could be found. Saying council moved the Statue with reconciliation in mind is in fact UNTRUTHFULL.
The Macdonald statue exhibit should focus on the history of the statue, not Macdonald’s political career or indigenous school policies and their effects. The Macaulay Museum is a county museum and should tell a county story about the commissioning, installation, and removal of the statue. It should answer these questions: Why was the statue commissioned? Why did county residents initially accept it for public display? Why was it removed to a museum? While historical context is important, the context of residential schools should not overwhelm the exhibit because the county had no part in such schooling. An exhibit focused on contemporary events related to the statue tells a positive story of a changing community.
Council needs to leave this statue in storage, or toss in the bottom of Lake Ontario. No matter where it is publicly, it should not be there. Even with a sad attempt to roll the statue in to a Reconcilliation exhibit, it will take a white washed front and centre stand to the rest of the exhibit.
Regardless of how I feel, or how any other non-Indigenous resident of PEC feels, the ONLY opinions that should be taken in to consideration on this matter are from our Indigenous residents. Full stop.
It is not clear whether this would be a permanent or temporary exhibit. I think that in its' totality it should be a permanent exhibit. I'm wondering if the whole exhibit would not be better situated in an outdoor environment. however, if it involves audio/visual materials, then perhaps it needs to be inside in which case I would argue for a permanent home. I would hope that the whole controversy re Sir John A would not be limited to how this statue rightly enraged so many people here in the County. The 'story' of Sir John A. should be told, both the 'good' work and the destruction he caused in the name of progress. History is important and I do not think that it should be buried. If I am understanding the intent of this exhibit, this will be a continuation of the discussion and will open up minds and hearts for a better society. There is so much education to be done and I hope that the County can work towards being a place of true welcoming and respect for all.
The statue should not have any place in our County. A true “path forward” would include heartfelt acknowledgement of the hurt that commissioning and installing the statue on Main Street has caused.
As much good as the proposed exhibit may do, it will not erase the harm done already, and will likely be seen by many, myself included, as an attempt to placate the artist and their contract requiring public display…
Seeing that PEC had no trouble breaking contracts when it came to wind turbines, I see no reason why this instance should be any different. Take the loss, pay your fees, make better decisions next time.