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The Macdonald Monument (french: Monument à Sir John A. Macdonald) is a monument to
John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...
, first
Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Hou ...
, by sculptor George Edward Wade (1853-1933), located at
Place du Canada Place du Canada (part of Dominion Square until 1967) is a large urban square in downtown Montreal. Overview At it is slightly larger than the adjacent Dorchester Square, with a more varied topography due to a downward slope towards De la Gau ...
in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Canada.


Work

At the top, an allegorical female figure carrying a horn of plenty represents
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Below, the children symbolize the seven provinces that made up Canada at the time. The bronze is housed under a stone
baldachin A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over hi ...
replete with copper bas reliefs of industrial and agricultural trades practised in the
Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 192 ...
he first commanded. While the plaza is arranged along the skewed cardinality characteristic of Montreal, Macdonald looks west-northwest, under a canopy created by trades, at the vast expanse awaiting the command coming from Montreal. Also, he faces off against the tribute to Sir Wilfrid Laurier, across the street in what is now
Dorchester Square , photo = Square Dorchester 01.jpg , photo_width = , photo_caption = , map = Canada Montreal , map_width = , type = Town square , location = Downtown Montreal, Ville-Marie Montreal, Quebec, Canada , nearest_city = , coords = , coo ...
. The two
cannons A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder dur ...
flanking the monument were used at
Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
in the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
and were a gift from
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
to the City of Montreal in 1892, to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the city.


History

The monument was unveiled by John Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen,
Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...
on 6 June 1895.


Vandalism and calls for removal

Reassessments of Macdondald's role in Canadian history, particularly his assimilationist policies toward
Indigenous Canadians In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fallen into disuse in Canada, and most consider them ...
and racist views of Asian immigrants, led to statues of Macdonald being removed and sometimes vandalized in other cities in the first decades of the 21st century. Since 2017, the Monument has itself been subjected to repeated vandalism, and was painted blue during an
Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk o ...
protest.


Renewed calls for removal

In the midst of the 2020 protests against racism and police brutality, which took place worldwide in solidarity with those following the
murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's ...
while in police custody, and the removal of Confederate Army statues in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, Canadian cities have seen a rise in calls to remove Macdonald statues, and those of others linked to Canada's colonial legacy. Early in June, it was reported that the Monument was on a list of fifteen statues across Canada subject to petition for removal, with a
Change.org Change.org is a worldwide nonprofit petition website, based in California, US, operated by the San Francisco-based company of the same name, which has over 400 million users and offers the public the ability to promote the petitions they care abo ...
petition begun in Montreal calling for the Monument's removal having garnered 2100 signatures as of 8 June. On 29 August 2020, during a defund the police protest, the statue in the monument was vandalized, toppled and inadvertently decapitated. Montreal Mayor
Valérie Plante Valérie Plante (born June 14, 1974) is a Canadian politician serving as the 45th and current mayor of Montreal since 2017.
condemned the actions and said the city plans to restore the statue.


Gallery

Image:Dedication of Sir John A. Macdonald Monument.jpg, Unveiling of the monument on June 6, 1895 Image:Windsor, Macdonald, St. George.JPG,
Place du Canada Place du Canada (part of Dominion Square until 1967) is a large urban square in downtown Montreal. Overview At it is slightly larger than the adjacent Dorchester Square, with a more varied topography due to a downward slope towards De la Gau ...
from
René Lévesque Boulevard René Lévesque Boulevard (french: Boulevard René-Lévesque), previously named Dorchester Boulevard () is one of the main streets in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is a main east–west thoroughfare passing through the downtown core in the borou ...
; Windsor Station in behind Image:Canon sous la neige.jpg, A
cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
flanking the monument Image:Macdonald Monument.jpg, Canada Day, 2013


See also

*
List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests During the civil unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, a number of monuments and memorials associated with racial injustice were vandalized, destroyed or removed, or commitments to remove them were announced. This occu ...


References


External links

*
Inauguration of Montréal's Monument to the late Right Hon. Sir John Macdonald, G.C.B., by His Excellency the Earl of Aberdeen, Governor-General of Canada, June 6th, 1895
{{Public art in Montreal Allegorical sculptures in Canada Bronze sculptures in Canada Buildings and structures completed in 1895 Copper sculptures John A. Macdonald Monuments and memorials in Montreal Outdoor sculptures in Montreal Sculptures of men in Canada Sculptures of women in Canada Cultural depictions of Canadian men Statues of politicians Cultural depictions of politicians Vandalized works of art in Canada Statues removed in 2020