EDITOR:
Re: “Keep statue of Sir John A." (The Guardian, Aug. 15):
I wonder how letter-writer Rod MacLean knows how the Mi’kmaq of P.E.I. think about the Macdonald statue in Charlottetown. Did he undertake a wide consultation or just take upon himself to speak for them?
RELATED: Statue of John A. Macdonald removed from Victoria City Hall in act of reconciliation
I think that it’s long past time for us to listen first to what our First Peoples have to say. What I would advise is that Mr. MacLean read the recent op-ed piece in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, “John A. Macdonald should neither be forgotten nor celebrated,” by Robert Alexander Innes -- an Indigenous Studies Professor at the University of Saskatchewan. One of the key points that he makes is that the history of Macdonald is not going to be erased, but that doesn’t mean that we have to celebrate, commemorate or even legitimize it in a way that offends our Indigenous Peoples. By the way, the City Council of Victoria, B.C. has made it very clear that it is not the slightest bit interested in shipping its now removed statue of Macdonald anywhere else in Canada.
Peter McKenna,
Professor and Chair, UPEI
Department of Political Science
