Buildings renamed, monuments fall in recognition of oppression of Indigenous people

While Canadians observing the violent protests in Charlottesville, Va., may feel assured this country does not have hundreds of U.S. Civil War monuments, some statues and buildings divide Canadians along similar lines.

One is the statue in Halifax ofEdward Cornwallis, a governor of Nova Scotia anda military officer credited by the British for founding the city in 1749. Later that year, he issued a bounty on the scalps of Mi'kmaqpeople.

A recent protest by activists and Indigenous people at the statue was interrupted byfive off-duty military members wearing black polo shirts who referred to themselves as Proud Boys,a so-called "Western chauvinist" organization associated with the far right whose founder has defended Cornwallis's scalping proclamation.

Renaming the Langevin Block

In June Prime Minister Justin Trudeaurenamed theLangevinBlock, the building housing his offices on Wellington Street in Ottawa, opposite Parliament Hill. The new name isThe Office of the Prime Minister and the Privy Council.

Hector-Louis Langevin wasa Father of Confederation,a prominent member of Sir John A. Macdonald's cabinet anda proponent of the residential school system.

In Calgary, theLangevin Bridgehas been renamed ReconciliationBridge.

Uof Victoria renames Trutch Residence

Joseph Trutchgarners a similarly divided reaction. He is remembered as B.C.'s first lieutenant-governor, an engineer and commissioner of public works.But he is also remembered as a man who trampled over the rights of B.C.'s Indigenous peoples in the 19th century.

The University of Victoria recently removed his name from one of its residence buildings. Itwas temporarily renamedLansdowne Residence #1 until a new name is selected.

B.C.'sHanging Judge is cut down

The Law Society of B.C. recently removed a statue of the province's first chief justiceMatthewBegbiefrom its foyer.

Begbie sentenced six Tsilhqot'in chiefs to death before Canada became a country, earning the nickname the Hanging Judge.The statue was removed, the society said, to be replacedwith a more unifying and inclusive symbol.

Indigenous and municipal leaders debate the futureof a public statue of Begbiein New Westminister, B.C.

Nicholas FloodDavin's role explained

In Ottawa's Beechwood Cemetery the grave ofNicholas FloodDavin, which contains a prominent bust of the man, has been augmented bya plaque drawing attention to his role in the residential school system.

The Regina journalist and politician, an early proponent of voting rights for women, also wroteaninfluential report in 1879 that led to the creationofresidential schools.

Cindy Blackstock, an Indigenous activist and a professor of social work at McGill University, worked with the Beechwood Cemeteryto have the plaque installedto recognize Davin's role in what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has called a "cultural genocide."

Ryerson Uname is protested

At Ryerson University in Toronto, a student-led campaign has pushed for the school to change its name out of respect for residential school survivors.

Egerton Ryerson, a pioneer of public education in Ontario,is widely believed to have helped shape residential school policy.

The campaign also seeks theremoval of hisstatue.

Hudson'sBay drops a Confederate plaque

The Hudson's Bay Company has removeda plaque from its flagship store in downtown Montrealthat commemoratedJefferson Davis,president of the Confederate States during the U.S. Civil War.

The plaque hungon a wall of the store on Union Avenue.Written in French, it read: "To the memory of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States, who lived in 1867 in the home of John Lovell, which was once here."

It was placed in 1957 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a group dedicated to glorifying a revisionist perspective ofConfederate history.