A downtown Montreal statue of Sir John A. Macdonald has been spray-painted red, only hours before the start of a demonstration to denounce racism and the newly-elected Coalition Avenir Quebec government.
An anonymous group of anti-colonial, anti-capitalist activists are claiming responsibility for the damage, which police say occurred Saturday night.
The group said in a news release that it wasn’t involved in organizing Sunday’s demonstration but wanted to support the event by defacing the statue of Macdonald, who they describe as a white supremacist who contributed to the genocide of Indigenous peoples.
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In 1883, Macdonald argued in the Commons for the removal of Indigenous children from their “savage” parents so they could learn the ways of white men.
The Montreal statue has been spray-painted on several previous occasions, including this past August.
Some 50 groups have said they’ll take part in Sunday’s demonstration to protest racism as well as premier-elect Francois Legault’s plan to cut immigration and expel new arrivals who don’t pass a French and values test within three years of arrival.
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