It’s been an emotional issue and Prince Edward County’s Heritage Advisory Committee (PEHAC) will meet one more time before sending
a recommendation on the future of the “Holding Court” statue of Sir John A. Macdonald to county council for a final decision.
Statues of the country’s first Prime Minister have caused controversy nationwide as First Nations people and others criticize his role in the creation of residential schools and the subsequent abuse of indigenous children and families.
In an almost 2 hour discussion on the recommendation of a special working group that the statue be removed from its location in downtown Picton
the Heritage Advisory Committee unanimously decided it needed to further discuss the working group’s report and add its own views before making any recommendation to county council.
PEHAC member Brendan O’Connor said the working group’s hard work needs to be respected on such a complex issue, acknowledging the process wasn’t perfect. He suggested PEHAC support the recommendation to remove the statue but added that there be an amendment that council initiate a wider community discussion on its future as it sits in storage.
Councillor Ernie Margetson said he’d thought about the issue a lot and had come to believe that if only one person in the county felt “trauma” when passing by the statue that was “one too many” and supported its removal.
However, others on the committee such as Liz Driver, Peter Lockyer, and Don Payne believed more information and context needed to be added to the working group’s report.
Lockyer said PEHAC should consider first what First Nations people are saying. Lockyer said he’d studied the 90 or so recommendations in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report and said he’d seen nothing promoting the removal statues or changing street/building names.
“Chief Maracle of the Tyendinaga Mohawks said himself that history shouldn’t be deleted but instead that it should be added to. We need more statues of all kinds of people and cultures in Canada not less. Tearing down the statue will create more division in the community. We need a thoughtful, creative solution that most people understand and respect.”
Another special meeting by the committee will be held November 4 and county council is expected to make a final decision at a meeting November 17.
