John A. MacDonald statue to be removed from City Hall

The John A. MacDonald statue that is currently on the steps of Victoria City Hall is set to be removed this weekend.

Mayor Lisa Helps announced this removal through her personal blog.

According to the blog, in 2017, the City of Victoria began a formal process of reconciliation with the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.

These groups then formed the Witness Reconciliation Program with the goal of meeting once a month to discuss new reconciliation tactics. Members agreed that the first truth and reconciliation action they would take would be to remove the statue.

“We will remove the statue of Sir John A. MacDonald from the front doors of city hall so that the family members and other Indigenous people do not need to walk past this painful reminder of colonial violence each time they enter the doors of their municipal government,” says Helps in her blog.

In her blog post, Helps notes how John A. MacDonald was a key influencer in regards to Indian Residential Schools.

“It is not until we began this Witness Reconciliation Program that I learned about the role that Canada’s first prime minister played in developing residential schools, the effects of which are well known to be still felt today both by school attendees and their children and grandchildren,” writes Helps.

According to Helps, the monument will be removed and stored in a city facility until a recontextualize purpose can be determined.

“We do not propose to erase history but rather to take the time through the process of truth-telling and reconciliation as part of the Witness Reconciliation Program to tell this complex and painful chapter of Canadian history in a thoughtful way,” says Helps.

The statue is set to be removed on Saturday and a plaque will be installed immediately following. After an appropriate amount of time, a cleansing, blessing and healing ceremony will be held in the space.

Click here for more information and to view Helps’ blog.