Regina to move Sir John A. Macdonald statue into storage, while consultations on its future occur
The seven-foot-tall bronze statue of Sir John A Macdonald in Regina’s Victoria Park is being put into storage.
City Council voted 7-4 in favor of a motion which calls for broad public consultation on the future location of the monument.
Approximately 12 people spoke to Council, many suggesting that Macdonald’s harmful policies towards Indigenous Peoples be considered.
Councilor Daniel LeBlanc noted that Macdonald’s policies benefited white people at the expense of Indigenous People. LeBlanc said Macdonald starved, marginalized Indigenous Peoples in pursuit of colonizing the west.
Regina s John A. Macdonald statue in Victoria Park. (980 CJME file photo)
A familiar bronze face in Victoria Park is to be removed.
Regina city council has voted in favour of putting the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald into storage until a new home for it can be found.
“It’s a very difficult decision but at the end of the day the feedback from the marginalized communities that the engagement was undertaken with was fairly clear,” Regina Mayor Sandra Masters said following the 7-4 vote.
“I think I would use the words of one of the chiefs that I had a conversation with which was, ‘Don’t lose the opportunity for education,’ and so the commitment I have, and the other councillors have, is to be sure we find a home for it that is respectful.”
Council spent nearly four hours Wednesday hearing from people for and against removing it from Victoria Park.
John Hopkins, chairman of Reconciliation Regina, told council the statue is offensive to many people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.
Trevor Lakness said he doesn’t have faith the city will put the statue in another location, pointing out that a statue of Metis leader Louis Riel has been in storage for many years.
Some people have suggested putting the statue in a museum, moving it behind the provincial legislature or to the RCMP Heritage Centre.
Others suggested the statue should stay put and have a plaque explaining the history of Macdonald and his influence on Confederation and Indigenous policies.
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 recent report by city administrators said the statue overlooks 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.
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