This article was first published by TorontoToday, a Village Media publication.
Canada’s first prime minister is once again welcoming visitors to the south end grounds of Queen’s Park.
The statue of Sir John A. Macdonald had been boarded up since 2020 when it was vandalized several times.
On May 2, the Legislative Assembly’s Board of Internal Economy made the decision to remove the hoarding around Macdonald’s statue. Today, crews were on-site taking the boards down.
Macdonald’s legacy came under heavy scrutiny — particularly during 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests and wider racial reckoning — for his role in Canada’s residential school system. According to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Macdonald authorized the creation of residential schools in 1883. The last one closed in 1996.
Since 2020, the former prime minister’s name was removed from a York Region school and a statue of Macdonald was relocated from a major park in Kingston to the nearby cemetery where he was buried.
The hoarding on the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in front of the Ontario Legislature is being removed today after five years. A new plaque has been added with context about his role in residential schools where Indigenous children were taken from their families. pic.twitter.com/zYwlWfDDOU
— Robert Benzie (@robertbenzie) June 11, 2025
Donna Skelly, the legislature’s newly appointed Speaker, said she recognizes the sensitivities around the history of Macdonald and encouraged Ontarians to express their views peacefully.
“Violence and acts of vandalism will not be tolerated, and the Legislative Protective Service will actively monitor the statue and grounds,” she warned in a press release.
After five years behind protective hoarding, the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald at Queen's Park has been uncovered.
— Donna Skelly (@SpeakerSkelly) June 11, 2025
As Speaker, I recognize the sensitivities surrounding the history of Canada's first Prime Minister and I welcome all Ontarians to express their views -… pic.twitter.com/ernzndZmxw
When TorontoToday arrived at the 1894 statue on Wednesday afternoon, the hoarding removal process had already wrapped up. Surrounded by enclosed fencing, Macdonald’s statue — now in pristine condition — was being monitored by a trio of peace officers.
There were no reports of disruptions or protests during today’s uncovering.
The Legislative Assembly said a committee has been travelling across Ontario to meet with Indigenous representatives and determine ways to acknowledge First Nations Peoples “both inside the Legislature and on the grounds of Queen's Park.”
The legislature said the children’s shoes that were once placed at the base of the statue were “carefully and respectfully removed” prior to the barriers coming down.
A new plaque is now situated behind the statue that reads, in part: “Though we cannot change the history we have inherited, we can shape the history we wish to leave behind.”
