Sir John A. Macdonald statue on the move. But where?

It looks like the Sir John A. Macdonald statue in Baden will be on the move after Monday night.

But where it ends up is still up in the air.

The recommendation outlined in a staff report headed to Wilmot Township council is to relocate it to one of three options, all with their own price tag and limitations.

It was back in late July that council voted for the relocation, and put the rest of the Prime Ministers Path project on hold.

The most expensive would be to put it in a storage locker, along with four statues dubbed “The Unfortunate Four” by path committee member Jim Rodger back in February.

Essentially, it would cost the township between $11,750 and $12,750.

The Unfortunate Four — made up of former Prime Ministers Sir John Abbott, Sir John Thompson, Sir Mackenzie Bowell and Sir Charles Tupper — were supposed to go up on the path together in June, but that's been postponed due to COVID-19.

The costs would be associated with removing the statues, base repairs and removal, and renting the storage space for about $300 a month, for what they estimate will be seven months total.

Another option is to put the statues in a facility already owned by the township.

However, space and security are a couple things of concern.

“The Sir John A. Macdonald statue crated size is estimated to be six feet by eight feet,” the report reads, “The Unfortunate Four will be shipped in two crates, each measuring five feet by eight feet. This is a total “footprint” of 128 square feet.”

“The statues must be stored in an upright position on a level, stable surface. The crates should be covered and kept dry.”

“Finding a storage location within a municipal facility would require substantial reconfiguration of how the space is currently being used and may result in substantial inefficiencies for operating departments in accessing equipment, if they can be accommodated at all. Storage in an outdoor environment is not recommended due to lack of security and inability to ensure level, stable surfaces.”

If council goes with this, it comes at a cost of between $9,650 and $10,650.

The last is to move Sir John A. Macdonald to the northern portion of the path, and is the least expensive ($7,500 to $9,500).

But that turns into a price tag of between $1,000 to $2,000 because of a commitment signed by Glen Mathers to cover the cost of a new location along the path.

That extra cost is for the repair and removal of the existing concrete base, which the funding pledge doesn't cover.

Mathers is one of two delegations listed on the agenda (as of Thursday night).  The other is Dave Atkinson.

No matter the decision, the funding wasn't accounted for previously in the 2020 budget.

Council has looked to the provincial and federal government for help through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but have yet to get a response.

The timeline of events involving this statue (and the rest of the PM Path) goes back a number of years, with it outlined in the majority of the council agenda's 1,218 pages.

The discussion on removing the statue got some attention earlier this year, when it was vandalized twice within a couple days in early June.

That was followed by weekly peaceful protests held by a group that's now known as the Collective for Decolonization, and growing calls from both ends of the argument from the community and around the world (Mathers' petition through his “Save our Statues” campaign has signatures and comments from people as far as the US, the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, Venezuela and New Zealand).

But it looks like it's all led to Monday night at 7:00 p.m., a meeting that will be held virtually and streamed on the township's YouTube page.