A plaque that was installed to replace the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald removed from Victoria city hall Saturday didn’t last 24 hours before it was vandalized.
The plaque was put in place Saturday afternoon after the statue was removed at 7 a.m. By by 11 a.m. Sunday morning a large “X” was scratched across the message engraved on its surface.
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The message reads:
“In 2017, the City of Victoria began a journey of Truth and Reconciliation with the Lekwungen peoples, the Songhees and Esquimalt nations, on whose territories the city stands.
The members of the City Family– part of the City’s Witness Reconciliation Program – have determined that to show progress on the path of reconciliation the City should removed the statue of Sir John a. Macdonald from the front doors of city Hall, while the City, the Nations and the wider community grapple with Macdonald’s complex history as both the first Prime Minister of Canada and a leader of violence against Indigenous Peoples.
The statue is being stored safely in a city facility. We will keep the public informed as the Witness Reconciliation Program unfolds, and as we find a way to recontextualize Macdonald in an appropriate way. For more information please visit www.victoria.ca/reconciliation”
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By Tuesday morning a replacement plaque had been installed.
The removal of statue has received national attention, including a request from the Ontario Premier Doug Ford who offered to take the statue and place it in Toronto outside Queen’s Park where there is already a statue of Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister.
The request was declined.
