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Instead of being angry at the defacing of the statue, Rodgers response was nuanced.

He expects and hopes that the figures will spark heated discussion. Thats the whole point.

Difficult public figures have difficult public histories, he said. We have never tried to hide that.

In order to show that understanding, Rodger and Caputo required that all the prime ministers be at ground level and be the same size as the people who would be interacting with them, instead of having them up on pedestals to instil a sense of awe.

Sculptor Ruth Abernethy had portrayed the figure of Sir John A Macdonald as holding two chairs and inviting a conversation.

But those careful design details were not a strong enough statement for whoever threw paint on the statue.

The first batch was thrown on Macdonalds statue sometime on Saturday night. Volunteers and township staff cleaned it off. By Tuesday it had happened again. The statue was briefly covered with a tarp. It was removed after Wilmot Township Coun. Angie Hallman said the statue should be shown with the paint still on it.

But before township council had a chance to have that discussion, a group of people cleaned off the statue themselves.

Brad Greulich, 31, was one of those people. I like my community and I dont like vandalism, he said.

Yet Greulich was careful to leave the red paint splattered underneath the statue, by way of acknowledging the complexity.

I understand why people poured paint on the statue twice, I get it, I sympathize with that, he told the New Hamburg Independent.

No ones hands are clean, but I think as a historical figure, its due a little more reverence than that.

Im not making the statue spotless, because the man wasnt spotless.

The heat is rising constantly in the extremist times we live in.

On Wednesday, a group demanding the removal of Macdonalds statue verbally clashed with another group thought to be affiliated to an alt-right organization.

Meanwhile, Hallman, who 18 months ago posed for a photo with the Kim Campbell statue along with two other women councillors, celebrating their historic entrance into the previously all-male council, has now proposed that the development of the Prime Ministers Walk be suspended.

No decent person wants to perpetuate suffering. But at the same time, policy shouldnt be made by an anonymous person with a bucket of paint.

We need honest public conversations, which comes with the pain of giving up pleasant illusions.

Macdonald is not the only prime minister with a mixed legacy. He is just the focus right now.

Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier also made racist decisions, including taking away the vote from Indigenous people and dramatically increasing the head tax on Chinese immigrants to Canada. Should we rename Wilfrid Laurier University?

William Lyon Mackenzie King, meanwhile, admired Hitler so much that he wrote in his diary (in 1938) that he will rank some day with Joan of Arc among the deliverers of his people. Under Kings watch no Jews were allowed into Canada as they tried to flee Nazi Germany. Thats shameful.

The only way to gracefully go forward is to have the statues presented, but with context that is lacking now.

Something, like a plaque or a recording, needs to be part of the installation, and explain the evil as well as the good.

All the prime ministers, Macdonald included, are part of the story of Canada.

Its just that the story isnt as pretty as we think it is.

Luisa DAmato is a Waterloo Region-based staff columnist for the Record. Reach her via email: ldamato@therecord.com

See the article here:
Opinion | A bucket of red paint on a statue can start a better conversation - Cambridge Times