Sir John A. Macdonald statue headed into storage

The statue of Canada's first Prime Minister will soon find a new home in storage.

Council in Wilmot Township voted to put the bust of Sir John A. Macdonald in Baden in a rental storage facility, after rejecting the initial staff reports on the matter.

The staff reports had looked into putting the statue in storage, but to also put it in a larger space to also store the statues of the “Unfortunate Four” statues that are still waiting to be put on the path.

Those statues were supposed to go up earlier this year, but the ceremony was delayed due to COVID-19.

The other option was to put Sir John A. at the north end of the Prime Minister's Path.

Ward 1 councillor Angie Hallman had some reservations on the staff report.

“The report does not include at all the conversation that's really important to have with the Indigenous community,” she said, “About where they feel, out of those options, that they are content with.”

“There is no written data that is requested on their relocation strategy.” 

Hallman was not alone.

Ward 2 Councillor Cheryl Gordijk also believes after the past four council meetings, the township has already put the Indigenous community through a lot. 

With these rejections, staff created an amended report. which states “That council does not accept report ILS-2020-16, that staff be directed to immediately relocate the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald to a rental storage facility.”

The amended report passed with Councillors Hallman, Gordijk, Gerber, and Pfenning in favour.

Mayor Armstrong and Councillor Fisher were opposed.