“Beware the slippery slope of removing historic names,” Brad Wall wrote Thursday in response to the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) who wants Macdonald’s name removed from schools around Ontario.
Wall’s piece started by outlining Macdonald’s “unacceptable” usage of the term “savages” to describe Indigenous peoples, then went on to explain that it was “tragically the stuff of daily parlance then.”
“It is a terrible but undeniable feature of our history that dims any light that shines on the memory of our first Prime Minister. One could say the same about some of his policies, and those of his successors, especially as it concerns Canada’s First Nations,” Wall wrote.
In an interview with Global News on Thursday, Wall said that he wants to make sure this doesn’t happen in Saskatchewan.
“It’s a context, it’s not how (Macdonald) should be judged in history exclusively,” Wall said.
“I just hope we don’t go down that road here, and that’s part of the reason for posting it.”
Wall also said he would have “absolutely” still made the post had he not been retiring.
The post continues by listing a number of historical figures, including Abraham Lincoln and Tommy Douglas, who Wall says also have controversial views on other issues yet made contributions to society.
You can read Wall’s post in full here.
Reaction online has been mixed. Here’s what some people are saying.