Few people will doubt that in establishing the residential school system, Sir John A. Macdonald had contempt for the languages and culture of Canada’s Indigenous people, but that was not his only crime.
Here on Vancouver Island, he gave a enormous swath of Aboriginal land, without consultation or compensation, to Robert Dunsmuir for the construction of the E&N Railway. This might have been expedient, but it was not right, and First Nations are still contending it.
As MP for Victoria, Macdonald did not visit the city, so it is not necessary to have his statue here.
On the other hand, he is important to the country.
I support those who suggest the statue would be better in the museum or elsewhere.
Jennifer Balme
Cobble Hill
