New recommendations on the way for Wilmot’s Prime Ministers’ Path

The Prime Ministers’ Path in Wilmot Township has been met with contention since it first began, but some new recommendations on its future are now on the way.

The project was first initiated back in 2013, being met with support and opposition almost immediately as some said it works to celebrate Canada’s rich history, while others pushed back saying it glorifies a history of Indigenous indifference.

In March of 2024, Wilmot Council decided to develop a working group to help shape the future of the pathway, but they’ve faced challenges of their own through the process.

“There are folks on the working group who, coming into this process, were actually afraid of harm, were actually afraid of violence,” said Engagement Co-Lead with Land Use Research Associates Inc. (LURA), Denise Soueidan-O’Leary. “We wanted to allow them space to protect their identities if they chose.”

Soueidan-O’Leary said the working group has remained anonymous up to this point, with some saying there were other factors apart from general safety that also came into the decision.

“There are people who have particular jobs in our community, or they do particular things in our community, that they didn’t want those things to overshadow the process in any way at this point in time.”

Multiple steps have been taken since, including a Request for Proposal (RFP) that closed in August 2024, along with community tea circles and community gatherings to discuss the matter.

“For more than 10 years, it has been a sensitive project that has stirred up thoughts and feelings for many community members,” said Engage Wilmot in a statement through its online Prime Ministers Path page. “It embodies the Township’s commitment to transparency and is an opportunity to return to the principle of connecting deeply with community and community members.”

Now that the project has been under development for some time, with the recommendations now in their final steps, the working group is willing to make themselves known, and able to talk with the community at an upcoming open house on March 5.

“I think that where we’re at is that folks feel safe enough in the community, and our hope is that we can work towards having those folks share their identities fully, all of them, at the next community gathering.”

The ideas that went into the workgroup primarily centred around both the potential concerns for harm towards Indigenous and other minority communities, while also listening to those who voiced support for the path, advocating for the people who see it as an educational and tourist destination.

Those ideas include relocating the statues to indoor spaces, such as museums, or adding plaques to provide various perspectives on Canadian history. Other considerations are said to have also gone into adding a healing circle garden, to encourage reflection and reconciliation, or even returning or repurposing the statues.

Soueidan-O’Leary said the upcoming open house will provide an outlet to properly get reactions to the recommendations and encourage openness for both the workgroup and the community.

“That way, they are able to have conversations with the community as the working group and our hope is that at that point, given that we’re almost all the way through the process, people’s identities won’t affect the process and the process won’t affect their identities.”

Full details for the Prime Minister’s Path, along with the upcoming open house on March 5 can be found on the Engage Wilmot website.