A group of prominent Canadian historians is calling on Ontario Premier Doug Ford to intervene and prevent the Toronto District School Board from removing the names of Sir John A. Macdonald, Egerton Ryerson and Henry Dundas from three of its schools.
The Canadian Institute for Historical Education (CIHE) has written to the TDSB since it announced results of a review recommending the names be changed. The CIHE also plans to make a presentation before the board’s Planning and Priorities Committee on Wednesday to urge that the process be reconsidered before the board takes a final vote on Feb. 19.
“This will be a difficult tide to turn,” says J.D.M. Stewart, an historian who will be speaking on behalf of the CIHE at the committee meeting, “but you still have to try.”
Instead of an open and balanced and approach, says the CIHE, “the TDSB process has been opaque, rushed and secretive.”
As a teacher with 30 years of experience, Stewart says he has seen a shift in the teaching of Canadian history from political and military topics to focuses on social developments and groups that were marginalized. While, he says that reckoning was necessary, the larger picture is missing.
That gap comes to light, he says, in the ways that key historical figures such as Sir John A. Macdonald are being recast for their faults, without also looking at their intentions and achievements. “Macdonald was not perfect, but he was a visionary who brought life to Canada.”
Teaching history “has become very political. A lot of teachers are afraid to speak out. There is a lot of self-censoring.” Even if a teacher simply says something inadvertently, they may get called to the mat, he says.
He recounts a recent comment by famed Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan, who is also a CIHE contributor, that key historical figures are now portrayed as “caricatures – hero or villain.”
But, says Stewart, “we need to guard against judging based on present-day values.”
Canada as a country is mature enough to embrace the sins and the virtues of any of our historic leaders, he adds.
The TDSB announcement on Jan. 27 said the board’s decision to make the name changes was based on “the potential impact that these names may have on students and staff based on colonial history, anti-Indigenous racism and their connection to systems of oppression.”
In response, the CIHE wrote to the chair and trustees of the TDSB on Feb. 6, outlining the legacy of the individuals scrutinized by the review and advocating for a second look at the review before the final vote of the entire board.
Here are summaries of the historical figures in question, provided by the CIHE:
Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister is widely considered to be one of the chief architects of Canada, having written the bulk of the terms that defined Confederation. He is widely known to have led the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which brought British Columbia into the fold, establishing the country from sea-to-sea. “Macdonald served as Canada’s prime minister for nineteen of its first twenty-four years.”
Egerton Ryerson was a Methodist minister and educator. While he was chief superintendent of schools for Upper Canada and then Ontario between 1844 and 1876, he was “the prime mover behind the creation of Ontario’s public school system.” He was also a missionary among the indigenous peoples of the Credit River, who learned to speak Ojibwe, and became a respected teacher among the Ojibwe people.
Henry Dundas was a minister in the cabinet of British Prime Minister William Pitt. He was known for his staunch anti-slavery stance. He appointed John Graves Simcoe as the first Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, who later introduced “the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada, the very first legislation in the entire British Empire to limit slavery.”
Meanwhile, the CIHE argues that school renaming should only occur after an open and transparent process that provides opportunities for all stakeholders to be heard, as well as consultations with recognized historians.
In February of last year, the CIHE published “Principles for Naming and Renaming” to provide guidance to school boards, municipalities and similar public bodies undertaking such processes.
The principles include:
a) A presumption against renaming and any decision to rename should occur only under exceptional circumstances and be based on established and clear criteria;
b) Consultation among all groups potentially affected by the change;
c) Advice sought and obtained from academic and other experts including historians;
d) A review conducted in a transparent manner to ensure that all affected parties have confidence in the outcome.
The CIHE has not yet received a response to its letter from the TDSB to its Feb. 6 letter, says Executive Director Allan Williams.
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