Hamilton mayor wants John A. Macdonald statue reinstalled with residential school context

Hamilton's mayor says he is "absolutely supportive" ofseeing the John A. Macdonald statue re-erectedin the city, with a sign or plaque that highlights "the value of him as a first prime ministerand the very poor things he did relative to residential schools and the Indigenous community."

The statue was in Hamilton's Gore Park until hundreds of demonstrators marched through downtown and pulled it down last summer. It remains in storage, the city confirmed earlier this month.

"He is our first prime minister that has value ... he was also very involved in the residential school piece, and it's important for us to look at these things as educational opportunities rather than trying to wipethem out," Mayor Fred Eisenbergertold reporters on Friday at city hall.

He said it'll "be a while" before city councillorsconsider putting it back up and, if they decide to, where.

Eisenberger also said he doesn't believethere's much support for removing all statues of Macdonald.

He made the remarksminutes after speaking alongsidelocal community leaders and anti-hate groups about the need for tougher laws to ban hate symbols on private property. That came after a Confederate flag sighting in the Binbrook area of Hamilton.

Next Thursday, there's anemergency and community services committee meetingwhere city staff willpresent a review of landmarks and monuments.

The meeting willalso includea report fromFirst Peoples Group,an Indigenous advisory firm based in Ottawa. The report recommends that theMacdonald statue not bere-erected.

"Reinstallation of the statue now would be a step in the wrong direction. Clearing the site (placing all remaining components in storage indefinitely)would allow for future community engagement to happen in a good way," reads the report.

Macdonald's ties to residential schools

Macdonald's legacy has been scrutinizedfor his role in the residential school system. Thousands forced to attend the schools died there and many suffered abuse, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.The commission heard testimony of the effects that over 100 years of mistreatment had on 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Mtis children.

Canada has been reckoning with this history aspotential burial sites are increasingly beingfound on the grounds of former residential schools.

The search for potential human remains at the former Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford, Ont., not far from Hamiltonis ongoing.

Mayor accused of not listening to constituents

Nathan Muir, anIndigenous youth adviser with the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, told CBC Hamiltonhe is "disappointed in the mayorand his reckless desire to ensure that colonial systems remain in power."

"As a politician, one needs to listen to their constituents, and clearly Mayor Eisenberger does not listen to his constituents. By wanting this, he continues to ensure that Indigenous people in Hamilton will be oppressed and traumatized."

Jordan Carrier, a Plains Cree woman who witnessed the statue comingdown last year, said her "blood is boilingjust thinking of the audacity" of the mayor for speaking publicly at an anti-hate event, and then "moments later continue to harm Indigenous citizens," she said.

"The people of Hamilton, the Indigenous community of Hamilton, and the lands that Hamilton sits on deserve far better than this."

Kojo Damptey, executive direct of the Hamilton Centre For Civic Inclusion,was amongcommunity leaders standing alongside the mayor at city hallon Friday,calling for tougher hate symbol legislation.

Damptey told CBC Hamilton that Eisenberger's comments about the statue are"beyond comprehension" given Hamilton's record of havingthe country's highest per-capita rate of hate crimes in 2019, 2018, 2016 and 2014.

"One minute you are saying we shouldn't stand for hate and then the next minute you are saying we should be putting up statues of people that have literally said in the House of Commons Indigenous people are uncivilized," Damptey said.

"How then can we go tell somebody in Binbrook a Confederate flag should come down? ... The argument is also going to be, 'Well let's not erase history let's put a plaque beside it.'"