Pulling Sir John A. Macdonald’s name off schools not a priority for local elementary teachers

Despite pressure from their provincial body to have the name of Canada’s first prime minister taken off schools and buildings, the president of ETFO Thames Valley local says it’s not a priority.

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is lobbying to change the names of schools named after Sir John A. Macdonald, because he was prime minister when the federal government approved the first residential schools in the 1800s.

READ MORE: Teachers’ union pushing to strip Sir John A. Macdonald’s name from Ontario schools

But Craig Smith, the president of the union’s local chapter, is calling for a deeper conversation about current societal challenges, rather than making an “arbitrary” decision.

“It isn’t simply a question of feel good motions, and sloganeering, and some rhetoric,” he said on AM980’s The Craig Needles Show Thursday morning.

“When we come to conversations about first nations in this country, and our relationship with Indigenous Peoples — I think this may be all well and good — but at the end of the day, does it address the fundamental concerns that face some parts of our communities, with regards to governance?”

READ MORE: The controversy over Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, explained

Smith adds it’s important to get a full picture of history.

“Where we are today isn’t the result of the actions of one person. You have to look at the social context at the time.

“I would say that the society as a whole had very deep-rooted and racist attitudes, attitudes which we still have hints of — but clearly have made progress from.”

During a province-wide AGM last week, ETFO approved the motion calling on school boards across Ontario to pull Macdonald’s name off schools and buildings, calling him the “architect of genocide against Indigenous Peoples.”

Smith said an overwhelming number of Thames Valley representatives in attendance voted against the change.