Canada’s first prime minister has been in a box for almost half a decade.
The iconic statue of Sir John A. Macdonald has sat at the foot of the Queen’s Park estate in downtown Toronto for more than 100 years but, during a summer of protests in 2020, it was covered to protect it.
That decision was made by Ontario Speaker Ted Arnott who decided “for its own protection” the statue should be placed in a box.
Two years later, however, the Progressive Conservative government passed a law which took away Arnott’s right to decide the fate of the statue and triggered a stalemate.
“I did have the decision-making authorities to cover it up but I do not have the legislative authority to uncover it at the present time,” Arnott, who will be replaced as Speaker shortly after the election, told Global News.
The legislation passed in 2022 meant a range of decisions that used to rest with the Speaker were moved to the Ontario legislature’s Board of Internal Economy, where the NDP and Progressive Conservatives must reach consensus to pass a decision.
The decision-making body is chaired by Arnott but the speaker isn’t allowed to weigh in on its decisions.
“It’s not that I choose not to exercise my vote — that’s the legislation, I don’t have a vote, even in the event of a tie,” he said.
The stalemate lasted until the legislature was dissolved at the end of January for a snap election campaign — with no final decision on the statue’s future.
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Through Ontario’s tariff-focused election, Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie has demanded the statue be put back on display.
“I think that’s a question of leadership — I’m not sure why John A. Macdonald, our founding prime minister, is still in a box,” Crombie said at a campaign stop on Feb. 11.
Crombie acknowledged there were “challenges” with Macdonald’s legacy but argued the statue should still be put on display.
“Right now, I’m feeling this wave of patriotism, especially what’s happening when we’re under threat of tariff wars and trade wars,” she said. “I want to stand up and be proud to be Canadian and celebrate everything Canadian — of course there are flaws.”
Macdonald, alongside Egerton Ryerson, seen as the architect of Canada’s residential school system, saw his name and likenesses removed around the country in 2020 as the country re-evaluated its history and the figures honoured.
Around the same time, the City of Toronto decided to remove the name of Henry Dundas from the city’s downtown Yonge-Dundas Square and students toppled a statute of Ryerson at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Arnott — who can no longer decide the fate of the statue — said Canadians should study and learn from history.
“To some degree, we’re looking at these historical figures and we’re holding them accountable — a century later,” he said.
“Clearly, if you compare what happened in 19th century Canada to today’s values, mistakes were made, horrible mistakes were made. But we learn from history, that’s why we study history and we resolve to do better in the future.”
While Crombie has said the statue would be released if she were premier, members of the NDP and Progressive Conservatives have failed to come to a decision on the statue over the past couple of years.
A Progressive Conservative campaign spokesperson suggested the party wanted to remove the box but the NDP had refused to agree. The NDP said the “premise” of that allegation was “confusing” because the decision has now been referred to another committee.
The committee it was referred to — the Procedure and House Affairs Committee — had a PC majority at dissolution, meaning it could have given its advice without needing to reach cross-party consensus.
“Queen’s Park is the people’s house, and the Ontario NDP will listen to people on their Legislature,” the NDP said in response to a question asking if the statue would be removed from its box if their party formed government.
“We’ll resume the consultations that we underway when this snap election was called and work together to make a decision about the future of this statue.”
The election will be held on Feb. 27.