Latest news with #JohnA.Macdonald
Edmonton Journal
11-07-2025
- Business
- Edmonton Journal
Opinion: Bill C-5: Rest in peace, reconciliation?
Against the backdrop of Donald Trump's threat to Canada's future, the prime minister is embarking on a nation-building project rivalling Sir John A. Macdonald's National Policy. Article content The mantra is 'build, baby, build' with Bill C-5 the midwife of this plan. The haste with which this legislation was rushed through Parliament is troubling many, as was the Trump-like urgency behind getting an agreement on internal trade by Canada Day. Article content Article content Article content There's no question that Mark Carney has a lot of political capital to spend and he has to exploit the honeymoon afterglow. It is also true that the logic of his actions is sound: Canada has been far too dependent on trade with the Americans — an understandable strategy if a multibillion-dollar market sits on your doorstep. Article content Article content With that market disappearing, moves to find others in Europe and beyond are necessary, as are plans to forge a closer relationship with the European Union. However, embedding the ability to bypass pesky regulations and perhaps limit public consultations to accelerate construction of major projects, does not inspire confidence. Legitimate concerns have been expressed by, among others, Indigenous and environmental groups, who feel that their voices will be muted, if not silenced. Article content The cost of living and the housing shortage dominated the recent federal election, easing out issues like climate change, health care, et cetera. Here again, not surprising, since having a roof over one's head must take precedence over everything else. Building housing at breakneck speed is one thing, but fast-tracking mega-projects is something else entirely. Is it wise to put the environment on the back burner when evidence of a warming planet smacks us in the face every summer? And is there not a danger that Indigenous interests may be sidelined in pursuit of a new National Policy? RIP Reconciliation? Article content Article content The duty to consult Indigenous groups has been affirmed and clarified by various Supreme Court decisions and Canada's ratification of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. The latter obliges the federal government to uphold the principle of 'free, prior and informed consent' of Indigenous groups before resource-development projects affecting their lands can proceed. Article content It is important to point out that Aboriginal groups have a very different attitude to decision-making. They do not make important decisions lightly. They consider their impact far into the future to determine how the seventh generation will be affected. While this might seem excessive to Settler society, one would hope that we would, at the very least, consider the repercussions of our actions on our grandchildren. Article content In fact, we could learn much from Indigenous values and attitudes to resources, especially with respect to water. Aboriginal groups do not frame the discussion in terms of their rights to water — rather, the focus is on their obligations to it. While Settlers believe they have dominion over the earth, Indigenous people adhere to an ethic of responsibility when interacting with water and other resources. They consider themselves stewards of nature's bounty obliged to protect and preserve it for future generations.
Toronto Sun
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
EDITORIAL: 'Serious' nations don't rewrite their history
A statue of Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald at Queen's Park in Toronto on Monday June 23, 2025. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk / Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Post Smug Canadians like to look south and berate U.S. President Donald Trump for his threats to annex us as the 51st state and for his oft-expressed view that Canada is 'not a real country.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Instead of blaming Washington for our woes, perhaps we should look at those who persist in tearing down Canada from within, with sloppy research and half-baked misinterpretations of history. Some of those people are in government. As Blacklock's Reporter revealed recently, a federal Parks Canada board has deemed Canada's first and third prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, 'too polarizing and too controversial' to celebrate any further with historical plaques. According to minutes of a Parks Canada Historic Sites and Monuments board meeting from December 2023, obtained by Blacklock's through freedom of information, 'The board recommended that Sir John A. Macdonald be commemorated by means of information to be made available on the Parks Canada website and that no plaque be erected.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. This is an outrageous cancellation of a man whose vision of nationhood created this country. He was not, as some claim, responsible for abuse in residential schools. He had a vision that all children, including Indigenous ones, should be educated. The abuses that occurred did not happen on his watch. Instead of reading rational commentary by serious historians such as Professor Patrice Dutil of Toronto Metropolitan University, who has researched Macdonald's life extensively, these detractors take history out of context. In his recent biography, Dutil points out that Macdonald saved thousands of Indigenous lives with a smallpox vaccine program. 'It's very simple: No Macdonald, no Canada,' Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre posted on X. 'Sir John A. Macdonald deserves to be clearly recognized for his role in the foundation of the wonderful country we get to call home.' Trendy statements about 'elbows up' are just hot air when we allow dilettantes to destroy our country from within with a false narrative. Why would we expect Trump to take us seriously when we're our own chief detractors? Canada needs to grow up and get over its collective inferiority complex. We must stop this pointless navel-gazing and collective self-flagellation. If we insist on tearing down those who built this nation, it's easy to see why outsiders might mistake us for a weak and flawed nation. Weird Ontario Toronto Blue Jays Celebrity World
Toronto Sun
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Canada's first PM 'too controversial' for commemoration, federal board rules
Minutes from the meeting suggest members agreed Macdonald is now a "polarizing and controversial figure in Canadian history' with "complex" legacies Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, is shown in an undated file photo. Photo by HANDOUT / National Archive of Canada Canada's first prime minister has been deemed too 'polarizing and controversial' to warrant any new federally-sponsored commemoration, a federal board recommended. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account According to reports published Thursday by Blacklock's Reporter, the board recommended that Sir John A. Macdonald — who served as Canada's first and third prime minister — garner no further plaques or commemoration. 'The Board recommended that Sir John A. Macdonald be commemorated by means of information to be made available on the Parks Canada website and that no plaque be erected,' read minutes of a Dec. 12, 2023 meeting of Parks Canada's Historic Sites and Monuments Board, obtained by Blacklock's via an access to information request. The board reviewed and revised Macdonald's designation as a National Historic Person in 2024, which according to a statement on a Parks Canada website on Macdonald's legacy aligns with Call to Action no. 79 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission — calling on the federal government to 'develop a reconciliation framework for Canadian heritage and commemoration.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More Minutes from the meeting suggest members agreed Macdonald is now a 'polarizing and controversial figure in Canadian history' with 'complex' legacies. 'Given that Macdonald continues to be a polarizing figure, the Board noted the challenge of crafting a statement that views him from multiple perspectives and that there will continue to be public dialogue about Macdonald's legacy to present-day Canada,' the meeting's minutes stated. 'The Board then turned to consider whether or not it was appropriate to erect a plaque for Sir John A. Macdonald.' The board concluded that existing statues and commemorations, including his gravesite at Cataraqui Cemetery in Kingston, were sufficient without introducing more. Activism over Macdonald's legacy led to a widespread erasure across Canada, ranging from statues violently toppled to a rash of renamings, including schools and the Ottawa River Parkway — formerly known as the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway as of 2023 is now known as 'Kichi Zibi Mikan.' A statue of Sir John A. Macdonald at Queen's Park, unveiled in 1894, spent five years enclosed in a wooden box until the coverings were removed earlier this month. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Money News Sports Toronto & GTA Editorial Cartoons MLB
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sir John A. Macdonald statue at Queen's Park visible to public for 1st time in 5 years
The public can once again see the statue of John A. Macdonald outside Queens Park. The statue had been surrounded by wooden hoarding for the past five years. It was first covered up in 2020 after demonstrators threw pink paint on it amid wave of protests across the country that took aim at Macdonald as Canadians grappled with the history of residential schools. Workers took down the hoarding Wednesday after a legislative committee voted to remove the covering last month. "As Speaker, I recognize the sensitivities surrounding the history of Canada's first Prime Minister and I welcome all Ontarians to express their views — peacefully," Speaker Donna Skelly said in a statement about the removal of the hoarding. "Violence and acts of vandalism will not be tolerated, and the Legislative Protective Service will actively monitor the statue and grounds." Children's shoes that were placed at the base of the statue after the discovery of possible unmarked graves on the grounds of former residential schools were "carefully and respectfully" removed and stored prior to the removal of the hoarding, the statement says. The question of what to do with the monument of Canada's first Prime Minister has been controversial. Macdonald is considered an architect of the country's residential school system that took Indigenous children from their families in an effort to assimilate them. WATCH | The complicated legacy of Canada's first PM: The NDP's Sol Mamakwa is a residential school survivor, and the only First Nation member at Queen's Park. He has said the statue is a source of pain. "It's not just a statue," he said last month after the decision to uncover the statue was made. "It's a statue of oppression. It is a statue of colonialism. It is a statue of Indian residential schools." Skelly says she hopes a committee will approve a monument recognizing those who attended residential schools and said Mamakwa would be welcome to join that committee.
Toronto Star
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
It's the right time to unveil Sir John A. Macdonald's statue
Given up for dead, Sir John A. Macdonald has risen again. Entombed for five years, his likeness has re-emerged at the foot of Queen's Park this week. For better or for worse. No worse for wear. When last seen, the towering bronze of Sir John A. was covered in paint, then covered in protective wooden hoarding. The legislature's security force couldn't protect the former prime minister from protesters, so he was hidden from view. Lost in time, Macdonald lost out to the times. The politician who gave birth to Canada was condemned for raining death upon Indigenous people, presiding over the blight of the residential schools system. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Times change — and change again. Once celebrated, later denigrated, now reincarnated. Macdonald's statue has been unveiled and is on view again. Bathed in sunlight, basted with a protective coating to ward off graffiti, the bronze of our first prime minister is braced for a fresh historical reckoning in the days to come. Which is as it should be. History is a work in progress — it is always being updated and rewritten with the passage of time. That doesn't mean we can write the central characters out of history, nor does it mean every politician deserves a place of prominence despite his misdeeds. Truth and reconciliation is also about reckoning. Protesting, perhaps, but not vandalizing or defacing or decapitating. It is about learning from history — the good, the bad and the grey. And learning how to debate our history, which comes in all shades for peoples of all colours — rather than splashing pink paint or overwriting with graffiti. Our legislature is 'a place for debate and deliberation on issues that matter in our province,' reads a sign placed beside the statue when it was first vandalized and then vanished for five years. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'Though we cannot change the history we have inherited, we can shape the history we wish to leave behind.' Not a bad placeholder. It took the legislature a long time to look back and figure out a path forward for the Macdonald bronze, one of many debatable statues on the grounds of Queen's Park. After all, did not Queen Victoria, whose likeness sits nearby, preside over Britain's colonial excesses? Where to end? All three major party leaders have belatedly endorsed the move to liberate Macdonald, as has the new speaker at Queen's Park, Donna Skelly. That's a good start. As a former journalist, Skelly knows well that journalism is often described as the first draft of history. It is subject to many future revisions and rewrites, depending on who is doing the writing. 'I welcome all Ontarians to express their views — peacefully,' she stressed. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW History, like statues, cannot be long covered up. Macdonald was an architect of the residential schools system, which led to 150,000 Indigenous children being uprooted from their homes, many subject to abuse and death. Sol Mamakwa, the sole First Nations MPP in the legislature, was one of those unwilling students in the system. Today, he is among those who oppose the return of Macdonald's statue, calling for it to be relocated to a museum, out of sight of the legislature. 'It's a statue of oppression, it is a statue of colonialism, it is a statue of Indian residential schools,' he argues. Mamakwa is a widely respected NDP parliamentarian who has played a pioneering role in the legislature, not least by advancing the place of Indigenous languages. When he rises to speak in the chamber, a hush falls upon the place. But when all rise, Mamakwa isn't always among them. As an Indigenous MPP, he pointedly refuses to stand for the national anthem – which is his absolute right. My point is that Mamakwa has a world view and an Indigenous view that he comes to honestly and viscerally. Not all Canadians share that view, so his perspective cannot easily be transposed or imposed upon all. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW It's worth noting that Mamakwa's personal likeness also appears on the grounds of the legislature. An official legislative banner celebrating his role as a trail-blazing politician, holding an eagle's feather, is placed prominently just a stone's throw away from the Macdonald bronze. Imagine if those who opposed Mamakwa's words and actions were to deface his image on the grounds of the legislature. We would be justly outraged, demanding that police and the legislature's security officers apprehend the perpetrators. The legislature and its grounds must remain a place to debate, not deface. For there are views of Macdonald's place in Canadian history that are also hard to ignore — notably that he played a vital role in founding the country and forging a nation despite the gravitational pull of American influence. He built a railroad that tied the country together, even as he tore Indigenous nations apart. It is a complicated legacy that demands context but also consultation. All the more reason to replace the original brass plaque at the base of the Macdonald statue. It hails his historical contributions without contextualizing his depredations. The old plaque is a sign of the times. Time for an updated draft of Macdonald's full history from another time — black and white and grey. Politics Headlines Newsletter Get the latest news and unmatched insights in your inbox every evening Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. Please enter a valid email address. 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