Sir John A. Macdonald statue at Queen's Park visible to public for 1st time in 5 years

The public can once again see the statue of John A. Macdonald outside Queens Park. 

The statue had been surrounded by wooden hoarding for the past five years. It was first covered up in 2020 after demonstrators threw pink paint on it amid wave of protests across the country that took aim at Macdonald as Canadians grappled with the history of residential schools.

Workers took down the hoarding Wednesday after a legislative committee voted to remove the covering last month. 

"As Speaker, I recognize the sensitivities surrounding the history of Canada's first Prime Minister and I welcome all Ontarians to express their views — peacefully," Speaker Donna Skelly said in a statement about the removal of the hoarding. 

"Violence and acts of vandalism will not be tolerated, and the Legislative Protective Service will actively monitor the statue and grounds."

Children's shoes that were placed at the base of the statue after the discovery of possible unmarked graves on the grounds of former residential schools were "carefully and respectfully" removed and stored prior to the removal of the hoarding, the statement says. 

The question of what to do with the monument of Canada's first Prime Minister has been controversial.

Macdonald is considered an architect of the country's residential school system that took Indigenous children from their families in an effort to assimilate them. 

WATCH | The complicated legacy of Canada's first PM: 

The controversy around John A. MacDonald’s complicated legacy

7 years ago

Duration 10:09

Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald, has a controversial and complicated legacy. He’s called the father of Confederation, but some say his policies that hurt Indigenous people mean he shouldn’t be honoured with statues and tributes across the country. The National talks to people on both sides of the debate.

The NDP's Sol Mamakwa is a residential school survivor, and the only First Nation member at Queen's Park. He has said the statue is a source of pain.

"It's not just a statue," he said last month after the decision to uncover the statue was made. 

"It's a statue of oppression. It is a statue of colonialism. It is a statue of Indian residential schools."

Skelly says she hopes a committee will approve a monument recognizing those who attended residential schools and said Mamakwa would be welcome to join that committee.