Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned Monday August 31 the debunking of a statue of his distant predecessor John A. Macdonald, advocating instead a "
mature conversation
" on the record of former heads of government, including his own father.
“
I was deeply disappointed by the vandalism that took place this weekend
” in Montreal, said Mr. Trudeau.
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A statue of former Prime Minister of Canada John A. Macdonald was thrown to the ground and beheaded on Sunday after an anti-racist protest by several hundred people.
While he recognized the legitimate demands of the protesters and the need to fight systemic racism in Canada, Mr. Trudeau said “
destroying statues unilaterally
” was not the solution.
"
A mature conversation, among Canadians, on how we will educate, learn, remember those who came before us, it's important,
" he commented at a press conference.
"Cultural genocide"
One of the founding fathers of Canada, John A. Macdonald is accused of having implemented a policy of forced assimilation of indigenous populations at the end of the 19th century, in particular by forcibly enrolling them in boarding schools where the practice of their languages were forbidden.
This policy was qualified as “
cultural genocide
” by a commission of inquiry in 2015. “
I think we should ask questions about all our former prime ministers - our leaders of the past who have surely done a lot of good things. , but who also made a few mistakes,
”Trudeau said.
"
I think we can also ask the question in relation to my father,
" Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who led a Liberal government between 1968 and 1979, then from 1980 to 1984, he added.
The debunking of the statue of Macdonald caused great controversy in Canada.
Hailed by those who see it as the dismantling of a colonialist symbol, it has been denounced by several political leaders, including the mayor of Montreal and the new Conservative leader Erin O'Toole.
"
We all agree that we must fight against racism, but at one point, it is not a democracy when we start to debunk statues like that
", for his part declared the Prime Minister of Quebec Francois Legault.
"
So we're going to restore it and put it back in place
."