Conservative MPs' rally at John A. Macdonald statue in Regina met by protesters

A group of Conservative MPs holding a rally in Regina's Victoria Park Thursday morning to voice support for thestatue of Sir John A. Macdonald that stands there were met by protesters calling forthe statue's removal.

The event was hosted by Andrew Scheer, MP for Regina-Qu'Appelle, Michael Kram, who represents Regina-Wascana, and Warren Steinley, the MP for Regina-Lewvan. They hosted the event both in-person at the statue and virtually, as a Zoom call with about 19 people.

Calls to remove the Regina statue of Canada's first prime ministergo back to 2017.

A new petition advocating for the statueto be removedwas started earlier this summer and has since been signed by more than 2,600 people.

WATCH | Conservative MPsclash with protesters over Regina statue:

Conservative MPs' rally at John A. Macdonald statue in Regina met with protesters advocating to have the statue removed

4 years ago

Duration 0:43

A Conservative rally around the John A Macdonald statue in Regina was meant to celebrate the former prime minister's achievements but was people who want it removed because of his role in the creation of residential schools. They say many people in the Treaty 4 area are directly impacted by MacDonald's policies.

Those opposed to the statuesay it should come down due to the fact that Macdonald created the blueprint for residential schools and deliberatelystarvedIndigenous peoples on the plains to force them into submission.

Somesaid the statueshould be placed in a museum or the Saskatchewan Legislature, others suggested it should be destroyed.

The City of Regina has launched a review of the statue, andMayor Michael Fougere met with protestors calling for its removal in early July.

As the MPs at Thursday's rally spoke, protesters shouted over them.

"How about we have children removed from your home and then we can talk about who did it and if they're a good person," yelled one person as Kram spoke.

"None of us are perfect," Kramsaid. "We cannot allow our history to be rewritten by an angry mob."

In a statement, Scheer, Kram and Steinley said they created the event toencourage residents to show their support for the statue. They said the event was organized after protesters recently tore down a statue of Macdonald in Montreal.

Scheersaid the Regina statue is a celebration of Macdonald's positive contributions to Canada and "his role in the creation of the greatest country in the world."

"I want my children to grow up in a country where we celebrate great people," hesaid.

Canada doesn't build statues of people because they are perfect, Scheer said, but to celebrate the positives.

He acknowledged many decisions made in Macdonald'sera have hadnegative consequences, but said that taking down statues will mean people won't remember positive contributions.

"I think it's important because Canada is such a great country, we need to honour the people that helped build it, create it and that's why I hope the City of Reginakeeps the Macdonald statue," Scheer said.

Protestors say removalwouldn'terasehistory

Saima Desai, one of the protestors who showed up to the rally, said Indigenous people, peopleof colour and Caucasian people were all there united against the statueand that removing itdoesn't destroy history.

"That history still exists," she said. "It still exists in the history books, it still exists in the trauma that Indigenous people carry here on Treaty 4 territory."

"There are people living on this territory today ... whose families were deliberately starved by that man standing on a pedestal over there."

What we're saying is we will no longer put racists and we will no longer put people who have attempted genocide against Indigenous people on a literal pedestal.-Saima Desai

Desai said history cannot be erased.

She said the protestors' message is simply that given Macdonald's legacy, he should not have a statue in Victoria Park.

"What we're saying is we will no longer put racists and we will no longer put people who have attempted genocide against Indigenous people on a literal pedestal," she said.

Regina police were called while the MPs were speaking to protestors.

Police say officers were called to a "disturbance" in Victoria Park. When officers arrived,there were no protestors present at the statue.