George Santayana once said:
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
A pub named after Canada’s first Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald has announced that after a long battle with anti-colonial protestors, they have decided to change the name of the establishment to make it “more inclusive and more welcoming, to all Canadians”.
The building housed Macdonald’s law office from 1849 to 1860 where he later led Canada to Confederation. ‘Sir John’s Public House’ was turned into a pub to celebrate the first Prime Minister of Canada’s life. It’s one of many buildings named in his honour including schools and airports, but as of late has created quite a bit of controversy.
Early last year, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario called for the removal of Macdonald’s name from elementary schools, and referred to him as the “architect of genocide against Indigenous Peoples” due to the fact that he established the residential school system in Canada.
The uprising against MacDonald later sparked protests outside of the pub in Kingston, Ontario. Customers and local organizations then refused to do business with the establishment. They felt it was no longer safe and the indigenous community said the name brought back too many unwanted memories.
The removal of the outside sign and slight change of name, ‘The Public House’ is hoping to rekindle an inclusive relationship with the Indigenous community.
In my opinion, re-writing people in and out of history or distorting historical facts because people are getting offended is dangerous. Once the can of worms is opened, where does it end? We’ve seen gender-neutral laws pass like Bill C16 and anti-Islamophobia motions like M103.
Although, I think the slope will get more slippery as time goes on.
Everyone is offended at something at different points in their life, but truths found in history are the bases of the principles of the future.
As we learned in George Orwell’s 1984:
"Who controls the past controls the future”
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