Sir John A. Macdonald statue removed from Kingston, Ont. park
A statue of Sir John A. Macdonald has been removed from its pedestal in a downtown Kingston, Ont. park.
Dozens of people gathered in City Park to watch crews take down the statue of Canada's first prime minister in his hometown. The statue came down around 9 a.m. Friday.
Kingston city council voted this week to remove the 125-year-old statue from the park and place it into storage, then put it up in Cataraqui Cemetery, where Macdonald is buried.
On Friday morning, about 75 people gathered to watch city crews work to remove the statue starting around 6 a.m. The crowd included people for and against the statue's removal.
Indigenous groups gathered for a drum circle in the park. Among them was Lisa Cadue, who has been at the park for a sacred fire and ceremony near the statue.
"Now all First Nations people can walk by here and say the city of Kingston did right by our people."
Nearby, a small group holding Canadian flags and playing bagpipes briefly blocked the work.
They moved after police on site spoke with them.
Kingston resident John Ryder-Burbidge said he felt "betrayed" by the council's decision.
"I think this is a triumph of woke social activism over democracy."
Council voted to remove the statue because of Macdonald's role as an architect of Canada's residential school system, which took Indigenous children from their families.
The statue was erected in 1895.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.