Montreal: Anti-Colonial Action Against John A. Macdonald Monument

Anti-colonial action made in support of removal of John A. Macdonald statue in Victoria, BC. Video and report was originally published to Montreal Counter-Info and produced by No Borders Media.

Earlier this morning, a group of unnamed anti-colonial vandals targeted the John A. Macdonald Monument in Montreal. The statue, at Place du Canada, was sprayed with red paint. The area around the statue was also postered with an explanatory text.

We claim this action in support of the recent removal of the John A. Macdonald statue in Victoria (BC), and in continued opposition to the far-right groups and politicians who actively defend a legacy of white supremacy and racism. We also undertake this action in solidarity with previous actions against the John A. Macdonald statue in Montreal and elsewhere in Canada. We demand that City authorities in Montreal take measures, similar to the City of Victoria, to remove the Macdonald Monument. Montreal is already undertaking the long overdue process of re-naming Amherst Street (which named after another colonial racist who advocated the extermination of Indigenous peoples).

Here is the text of the poster accompanying the recent vandalism, providing concise context about why Macdonald statues and monuments should be removed:

John A. Macdonald was a colonial racist!
Take down his statues across Canada, and put them in museums.

John A. Macdonald was a white supremacist. He directly contributed to the genocide of Indigenous peoples with the creation of the brutal residential schools system, as well as other measures meant to destroy native cultures and traditions. He was racist and hostile towards non-white minority groups in Canada, openly promoting the preservation of a so-called “Aryan” Canada. He passed laws to exclude people of Chinese origin. He was responsible for the hanging of Métis martyr Louis Riel.

Macdonald statues should be removed from public space and instead placed in archives or museums, where they belong as historical artifacts. Public space should celebrate collective struggles for justice and liberation, not white supremacy and genocide.

– Some anti-colonial vandals in Montreal.

info: [email protected]

(Note: Video and photos were shared anonymously with No Borders Media. No Borders Media is not responsible for the action against the Macdonald Monument.)