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“It’s not just arrogance and hubris and bravura. Look at it. Pretend that native people can walk up to it and say ‘Yes Sir John, we accept your apology. You look apologetic.’”

Photo by Adrian Lam / Victoria Times Colonist

What would he like Victoria to do with it?

Put it back.

“I think they should put it back where it was and say let’s have a ceremony of reconciliation around the sculpture. I can talk about what it is, and I don’t think anybody would object to it if they looked at it the way I look at it.”

That probably isn’t to happen. But the society that paid for the statue in 1981-82 would like it to go back on display in public.

“Our society gave the statue to the city on the understanding that it be on public display, not wrapped up in a tarpaulin and hidden in the back of a secret warehouse,” said Peter Hebb of the Sir John A. Macdonald Historical Society.

Photo by ADRIAN LAM/Times Colonist / PNG

In a text message, Victoria’s Mayor Helps said “the city has no intention of getting rid of the statue. It was a gift to the city from the society. We are storing it carefully and in the meantime, we will have a continue dialogue with the (First) Nations and the community — including both the artist and the society — as to the best place, way and context to place the statue that balances commemoration with reconciliation.”

Hebb said the statue was originally supposed to be located in Victoria’s Centennial Square, but the mayors changed after an election and it was moved to city hall.

He argues that contrary to what some people have said, “Sir John did not hate Indians. Quite to the contrary, he felt sorry for them. He gave them the right to vote — this was passed in the Parliament of Canada.