"Holding Court" John A. Macdonald Statue

Tell us what the Holding Court statue means to you?

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  Take it down now.

  by Sofia Faga, about 6 years ago
  Historical figures like Sir John A. Macdonald should not be celebrated. This statue commemorates someone who was personally responsible for the genocide of thousands of Indigenous people. Take it down now. It is an offensive affront to the Indigenous survivors who are our neighbours (forced onto reserve and off their traditional territory by The Indian Act). He created the Indian Act which he stated was to force ‘Indian’ people to assimilate into settler culture and renounce their heritage and rights. It was the basis on which residential schools were instituted, stripped Indigenous women of their status rights, and continues to... Continue reading

  Historical figures like Sir John A. Macdonald should not be celebrated. This statue commemorates someone who was personally responsible for the genocide of thousands of Indigenous people. Take it down now. It is an offensive affront to the Indigenous survivors who are our neighbours (forced onto reserve and off their traditional territory by The Indian Act). He created the Indian Act which he stated was to force ‘Indian’ people to assimilate into settler culture and renounce their heritage and rights. It was the basis on which residential schools were instituted, stripped Indigenous women of their status rights, and continues to segregate Indigenous people from accessing basic human rights like health care and social suppots. He was also a documented anti-black racist. We can and should do WAY better than this statue.
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  Get the full story.

  by Marc Seguin, about 6 years ago

  I believe that presenting the history of any person or event, warts and all, is the best way to go. Rather than applying only current feelings and outlooks onto our imperfect past, let’s present the whole story, as best as we can, based on ALL of the evidence available to us. Let’s not make things up about our history that are not true. Lets not erase the history that can be documented as fact. Let’s add to our history and celebrate a fuller view of our past.

  I am commenting here on Sir John A. Macdonald in general, and about... Continue reading

  I believe that presenting the history of any person or event, warts and all, is the best way to go. Rather than applying only current feelings and outlooks onto our imperfect past, let’s present the whole story, as best as we can, based on ALL of the evidence available to us. Let’s not make things up about our history that are not true. Lets not erase the history that can be documented as fact. Let’s add to our history and celebrate a fuller view of our past.

  I am commenting here on Sir John A. Macdonald in general, and about the “Holding Court” statue in particular.

  
  

  SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD

  There has been much talk, and much confusion, about what Sir John A. Macdonald did or did not do to Aboriginal groups in Canada while he was Prime Minister of Canada. I have seen several newspaper articles that quote various persons who have made disparaging remarks about Macdonald, and I’m sure various social media platforms are replete with negative comments about him. However, I have never seen a single well-documented article or report that even attempts to summarize Macdonald’s so-called “evil doings”. Newspaper articles quote individuals who may or may not have seen such reports, but the reports are not quoted, just the opinion of the interviewee is mentioned… and we certainly cannot rely on the veracity of claims on social media which are backed up by nothing more than re-posts of Facebook pages and re-Tweets of Twitter comments.

  On the other hand, there are mountains of scholarly works which fully document Sir John’s political career, and most of them present a litany of great things that our first prime minister accomplished. Here’s only a few of the books about him: Donald Creighton, “John A. Macdonald, Confedeation and the West”, 1967 P.B. Waite, “Macdonald: His Life and World”, 1975 Richard Gwyn, “John A: The Man Who Made Us”, 2008 Richard Gwyn, “John A: Nation Maker”, 2012.

  It takes a great deal of time and effort to put together a comprehensive report on a historical subject. The historians who wrote the books listed above collectively spent decades doing that. I’m sure that the Holding Court Statue Working Group does not have the time to produce a well documented report summarizing what Macdonald did to whom and when, yet without that vital information it will be impossible to make any valid decisions.

  Such a report would show things like…
  — in 1876, when the Indian Act was voted in Parliament, Sir John A. was not even the Prime Minister! The PM at that time was Alexander Mackenzie (another potential “next target”)
  — in 1885, Macdonald personally pushed the Franchise Bill through Parliament amid protests from both the Liberal opposition and from his own Conservative caucus. This Bill gave the vote to many indigenous persons and it remained in force until Sir Wilfred Laurier’s Liberal government repealed it in 1898
  — in 1894, the Indian Act was amended to “establish an industrial school or boarding school for Indians” and “for the committal… of children of Indian blood under the age of sixteen years, to such industrial school or boarding school, there to be kept, cared for and educated for a period not extending beyond the time at which such children shall reach the age of eighteen years.” This was was real beginning of what we now call the “Residential Schools”. [‘An Act to Further Amend the Indian Act’, “Senate and House of Commons Bills, 7th Parliament, 4th Session”, 1894, pp. 1063-1064.] However, in 1894, Macdonald had beed dead FOR THREE YEARS!

  
  

  THE “HOLDING COURT” STATUE

  Was this statue specifically erected to recognize a person who may have done serious wrongs to Aboriginal peoples? The answer is NO.

  Was this statue specifically erected to commemorate any event that may have had a negative impact on Aboriginal peoples? The answer is NO.

  Was this statue erected to memorialize a Prime Minitster of Canada? The answer is NO.

  Then, why was this statue erected?
  This statue represents a young John Macdonald as a lawyer practicing law in Prince Edward County in the 1830’s. He later went on to become Canada’s first prime minister, but the statue represents Macdonald BEFORE he even entered politics.There is no doubt that this statue would not have been erected if he did not later go on to become prime minister of Canada . However, the statue itself is of a man whose only connection to Aborignal persons at the time was acting as a lawyer defending several Aborignal men in court, and singing in a Mohawk choir! (see Richard Gwyn, “John A: Nation Maker”, 2012.)

  This statue shows a tiny portion of Prince Edward County’s history. It shows a young man arguing a point of law in a courtroom. It could easily be interpreted as John Macdonald arguing a case on behalf of one of his Aboriginal clients.

  
  

  Rather than applying only current feelings and outlooks onto our imperfect past, let’s present the whole story, as best as we can, based on all of the evidence available to us.
  Lets not erase history.
  Let’s add to it.
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  Divisiveness Vs Community

  by Glen Holm, about 6 years ago

  First I would like to add that though MacDonald has some history in Prince Edward County (PEC) the statue itself has not been here long nor was it actively solicited by the citizenry of PEC to my knowledge. It is a newer statue in the scheme of things. Thus, the attachment to the statue itself is not the issue here or why we are discussing what to do with the statue. The issue is will white Canadians, and specifically white people from PEC be able to acknowledge a past full of colonial terrorism in the name of nation statehood? Will... Continue reading

  First I would like to add that though MacDonald has some history in Prince Edward County (PEC) the statue itself has not been here long nor was it actively solicited by the citizenry of PEC to my knowledge. It is a newer statue in the scheme of things. Thus, the attachment to the statue itself is not the issue here or why we are discussing what to do with the statue. The issue is will white Canadians, and specifically white people from PEC be able to acknowledge a past full of colonial terrorism in the name of nation statehood? Will we acknowledge our own flawed history?
  
  Those arguing that we cannot change history nor learn from it if we hide it are correct. However, nor can we learn, and in fact I posit we are negatively served, when we try to propagate myths and lies. Rather, this facilitates us repeating atrocities and crimes against humanity all in the name of saying we are 'making it better' or bringing 'culture to the savages'. The myth is a nice clean history where founding fathers did (mostly) all the right things and we will neglect to consider any negative outcomes or appearances. We have been rewriting history for decades so much so that many scholars will put forth well written positions citing the standard dogmatic dialogue. THIS is the rewriting of history. Leaving the current dialogue status quo is forwarding the real false narrative. This is our chance to do something about it.
  
  At this juncture, I could indeed write a long argument outlining positions and historical facts but we would be missing the point entirely. The point is our community right now.
  
  The reality is a community should do things that brings said community together. The community should do things that properly represent us all. We should not do things that cause havoc, disorder and negativity to parts of the community. The community should not show favour to some members while neglecting the concerns of other members. This statue does just that. It creates negativity and represents more than "just" a tribute to 'Canada's first PM who lived around here for a bit'. It is obviously divisive or we would not be here.
  
  Picton and Prince Edward County has such a long a history of amazing things (first weekly published news papers first drug stores etc) that we have so much we can all be proud of (And market for you people with monetary malaise that feel everything is about money [fools]). We have a huge history here we can promote and get behind that EVERYONE can agree is interesting and meaningful.
  
  We do not need a divisive albatross right in the middle of our main street, that frankly a significant amount of people find hurtful and not representative at all of how they feel.
  
  I really could write a PhD thesis on this so thank you for the opportunity to get a few quick thoughts out. I hope I didn't miss anything I wanted to say that was important.
  
  Remember: Out elected council should be working towards the good of us ALL. It should be benefiting us ALL. It should be INCLUSIVE. It should BUILD community. It should facilitate bringing out the best in us all. Removing the statue will serve to make us a more cohesive and stronger community and will serve to properly align our history with our current moral compass. THAT is the opportunity for education we all need. This is the path we should be taking with clear hearts and an open mind pointing towards a shared future that is more inclusive and meaningful.
  
  
  
  
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  History Lessons

  by Michael Brooks , about 6 years ago
  Everyone seems to jump on any parade float moving through society. What I don't understand is no one wants to learn from past misdeeds. Tearing down statues, or symbols of past or present misdeeds doesn't erase those misdeeds. We need to learn from mistakes from the past. All Canadian history, both good and bad should be part of the curriculum taught in schools. We should learn from the past, not tear it down. Place a new placard at the statue containing both the good and bad deeds of Canada's first Prime Minister.

  Everyone seems to jump on any parade float moving through society. What I don't understand is no one wants to learn from past misdeeds. Tearing down statues, or symbols of past or present misdeeds doesn't erase those misdeeds. We need to learn from mistakes from the past. All Canadian history, both good and bad should be part of the curriculum taught in schools. We should learn from the past, not tear it down. Place a new placard at the statue containing both the good and bad deeds of Canada's first Prime Minister.
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  Who really can cast the first stone?

  by john cavanagh, about 6 years ago
  The statues that are erected for our historical leaders should not be removed. There was a reason they were immortalized. If you want to dig deep enough you can probably find 'dirt' on any historical figure. A lot of the things that we now consider "bad' may have been normal at the time and/or had a legitimate reason for the actions that were taken. As for the Picton statue, it should be left where it as, as that location is meaningful to the town, itself.

  The statues that are erected for our historical leaders should not be removed. There was a reason they were immortalized. If you want to dig deep enough you can probably find 'dirt' on any historical figure. A lot of the things that we now consider "bad' may have been normal at the time and/or had a legitimate reason for the actions that were taken. As for the Picton statue, it should be left where it as, as that location is meaningful to the town, itself.
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  Decision makers

  by Emery niles, about 6 years ago

  History makes us better decision makers. We can only learn from the past if able to see what happened and use it to move forward.

  History makes us better decision makers. We can only learn from the past if able to see what happened and use it to move forward.
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  For the Good and the Bad - Keep it where it is.

  by Richard Little , about 6 years ago

  While Sir John A. has some bad history, he also did some very great things. The statue where it now stands is the perfect venue to present both the good and the bad. It should not be closeted or denied.

  While Sir John A. has some bad history, he also did some very great things. The statue where it now stands is the perfect venue to present both the good and the bad. It should not be closeted or denied.
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  We Can't Re-write History

  by Susan Allen, about 6 years ago
  As painful as some people think this is, it happened!!! We can't 'hide' everything that went on in the past or we will become a nation that thinks we have always been wonderful. Leave the statue where it is. We should be reminded that Canadians were not always 'kind' people.

  As painful as some people think this is, it happened!!! We can't 'hide' everything that went on in the past or we will become a nation that thinks we have always been wonderful. Leave the statue where it is. We should be reminded that Canadians were not always 'kind' people.
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  Keep it where it is

  by Vida Edwards , about 6 years ago
  It’s a part of history so I believe that we need to keep it. We can’t change our history but we can learn from our past and hopefully not repeat our mistakes.

  It’s a part of history so I believe that we need to keep it. We can’t change our history but we can learn from our past and hopefully not repeat our mistakes.
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  Move it and add to it

  by Jess A Davis, about 6 years ago

  Right now the statue doesn't tell a story of anything to those that don't know who John A was or why he is even in our town. It's not appropriate on Main St either because of the autrocities and painful reminders to those whose land we now steward.

  It should be moved and tell the whole story from as many viewpoints and as accurate as is possible. I agree that it needs context and to not be on Main st. But please don't destroy such a beautiful work of art either. Maybe put it away until the appropriate place and... Continue reading

  Right now the statue doesn't tell a story of anything to those that don't know who John A was or why he is even in our town. It's not appropriate on Main St either because of the autrocities and painful reminders to those whose land we now steward.

  It should be moved and tell the whole story from as many viewpoints and as accurate as is possible. I agree that it needs context and to not be on Main st. But please don't destroy such a beautiful work of art either. Maybe put it away until the appropriate place and additions can be worked out.

  Also, for the love of all that is good, get it off Main St - now.