‘The good and the ugly’: Wilmot council creating plan for Prime Ministers Path

In Wilmot, statues of former Prime Ministers continue to collect dust in storage as council weighs the opinions of residents in creating a plan for the future of a controversial project.

Staff at the Township of Wilmot have been gathering community opinions about the future of the Prime Ministers Path at Castle Kilbride since October 2024, and shared a detailed report with council at a meeting on Monday.

The report details what was heard from residents across the societal spectrum and offers recommendations on what is possible for the project and how to heal what has created a divide amongst community members.

Timeline

The statues of former Prime Ministers, including Canada’s first Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald, were commissioned by a Kitchener resident back in 2013 as part of a project to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary.

From the outset, the statues garnered negative attention due to the colonialism, racism, and systemic harm tied to the figures they depicted.

After being rejected in Kitchener, the statues were eventually installed in Wilmot at Castle Kilbride in 2016.

In 2020, following an outpouring of responses from members of the public, the statue of John A. MacDonald was removed from the path and placed into storage. One year later, the council of the day decided to end the project entirely and move the remaining four statues into storage, where they remain today.

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In January 2024, Wilmot council decided to look for a permanent solution to the project, prompting staff to begin the process that culminates in decisions set to be made this summer.

What they heard

The report shared at the council meeting on Monday is long and detailed, and outlines a long list of potential solutions and recommendations for the future of the Prime Ministers Path in Wilmot based on what they heard from residents.

“It felt as if for every voice, there was an equal and opposite voice,” said Benny Skinner, co-lead of the Collective Reflections, Future Directions project.

The recommendations were made based on a variety of factors, including funding, inclusion, location, and a focus on providing a space that allowed for Truth and Reconciliation.

“The statues have brought the good and the ugly out — how do we move forward?” said one resident who interacted through a tea circle.

Robin Spicer, a delegate at the meeting on Monday, shared what she thought the path represented and how it has affected her family.

“I have heard many great ideas for the space, and how to return the statues with the understanding that a lot of educational components will need to be addressed. Personally, I do not see how these statues are educational. These statues have created so much divide in this community,” said Spicer.

She went on to explain that, if the statues were to be returned, she would like to see the statue of John A. MacDonald toppled over with red paint splattered over it as a message depicting the injustices carried out by former Canadian governments.

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Glen Mathers, another delegate at Monday’s meeting, was in favour of returning the statues as they once stood.

“Understanding the past, the good and the bad, frames an understanding of the present. How many people have said to their children: ‘Learn from your mistakes?'” said Mathers.

The report also details a number of creative ideas for the future of the project, including interactive installations like rotating art displays, a public performance space, moving the statues to a museum or to Ottawa, or even melting the statues down and repurposing the material for a “Reconciliation monument.”

Next steps

The report shared on Monday, as well as the delegations heard in council chambers, will head to a Committee of the Whole meeting on June 2, where committee members will unpack the information and look to create a plan for the future of the project.

That plan will be shared and considered for approval at a council meeting on June 23.