Sir John A. Macdonald statue toppled in Hamilton, police say

Hamilton police say a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald has been toppled following a rally at a city park Saturday.

“Approximately 200 individuals attended the Indigenous Freedom Rally which began at City Hall and then moved to Gore Park,” Hamilton police said in a news release. “At approximately 2:15 p.m. an individual scaled the statue and the statue fell.”

There were no reported injuries, police said.

Police said they were at the park when the statue came down but said due to the size of the crowd they chose to “monitor the event.”

Attendees said the rally was held to oppose a decision made by the Hamilton city council last month to keep the statue in place.

No arrests have been made, police said.

Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, is considered an architect of the country’s notorious residential school system that took Indigenous children from the families in an effort to assimilate them.

Statues of Macdonald and other historical figures have been the target of vandalism over the past several months as the nation grapples with the legacy of the residential school system.

Last June, a statue of Egerton Ryerson on the campus of Ryerson University was vandalized and then toppled by a group of protestors. Egerton Ryerson helped create Ontario’s public school system, but also had a hand in the development of residential schools, historians say.

Other municipalities have debated what to do with the colonial-era statues. In Kingston, Ont., a statue of Macdonald was removed by city crews and placed in storage in June.

In Manitoba, a statue of Queen Victoria was brought down by protestors on Canada Day. A statue of Queen Elizabeth II was also damaged during the event, police said. Premier Brian Pallister said in July the statues will be rebuilt.

Files from the Canadian Press were used in this report