Sir John A. Macdonald, Canadas first prime minister, was an architect of Indigenous genocide whose name has no place on public schools in Ontario, according to an attention-grabbing motion passed last week by the provinces elementary teachers union.
Its a strong accusation at a time of heated debate over the memorializing of controversial figures in the United States and Canada that a man whose statue stands outside Parliament and the Ontario legislature, whose name is on major roads and the airport of the countrys capital, and whose face is on the $10 bill, is unworthy of being associated with childrens schools.
The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario issued the call at its annual meeting on Aug. 14, after a motion written by teachers from Peel Region and Grand Erie was passed.
Full story: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...uld-be-renamed-elementary-teachers-union.html
For those not up on their Canadian history, Sir John A.Macdonald was our first Prime Minister and a key figure in Canada's Confederation, the Chinese Head Tax and residential schools among other impactful decisions. The latter two of these decisions were largely informed by Macdonald's racist views on the Chinese and indigenous people of Canada, believing the former would destroy "the Aryan character of the future of British America" while the latter were described by him as savages that "though he may learn to read and write, his habits and training and mode of thought are Indian. He is simply a savage who can read and write". This suggestion has garnered a mixture of reactions, with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne saying that we need to teach our kids about the history of our country, including colonialism (which...we do...in history classes. At least, that's what I was taught from high school onward) in opposition while supports it as a means of recognizing the impact that Macdonald's decisions left on Canada.
Remove my name if old.