N.S. Indigenous community supports Sir John A. MacDonald school name change

An Ontario teacher’s union movement to change a controversial school name is gaining support in Nova Scotia.

“We want [Sir John A.] Macdonald to be relegated where all despots such as he should be. This man was not a man who viewed all races as equal,” said Daniel Paul, a Mi’kmaq elder and historian.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We want [Sir John A.] Macdonald to be relegated where all despots such as he should be. This man was not a man who viewed all races as equal," said Daniel Paul, a Mi'kmaq elder and historian.

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario is wanting to remove the name of Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, from elementary schools across the province.

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

The move comes from concern over Macdonald’s impact on the Indigenous community while he was in power, in particular his support of residential schools.

“There’s all kinds of things you can argue about. Was he right? Was he wrong? Was he good? Was he bad?” Shirley Tillotson said, a Historian of Canada and retired Dalhousie University history professor. “Now, we’re getting more of a focus on his role as Indian Affairs and as Minister of the Interior, where he really did play a significant role in setting out the kind of Indian policy that has left such a dark legacy for our country.”

Name changes are not new to Nova Scotia.

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WATCH: A controversial statue will be taken down on Saturday if protesters get their way. Mi’kmaq and other community leaders are urging calm, and police are monitoring the situation. Global’s Steve Silva reports.

2:01 Protesters plan to ‘peacefully remove’ Halifax’s Edward Cornwallis statue Saturday

That change came from the government-funded bounty Edward Cornwallis placed on the Mi’kmaq people in October 1749, in response to an attack on colonists.

While HRSB chair Dave Wright says a name change for Sir John A. Macdonald High School in Upper Tantallon isn’t on their radar, if due process was followed to request a change, the board would consider it.

READ MORE: COMMENTARY: Teachers’ union’s campaign against Sir John A. Macdonald is unfair and ignorant

“I can assure you that the board would make a decision with the input from the community at the forefront,” Wright said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I can assure you that the board would make a decision with the input from the community at the forefront," Wright said.

Paul believes the push by the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario to rename schools will open people’s eyes to the impact Macdonald had on Indigenous people.

“MacDonald founded a white man’s country and did everything during his terms as Prime Minister to assure that it would remain so. Including an all out effort to exterminate its Indigenous population,” he said.