WATCH: Protestors in Canada Topple Statues of Queens Victoria and Elizabeth II
On Thursday, protestors in Winnipeg, Manitoba pulled down statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II to protest the past mistreatment and deaths of indigenous peoples at the hands of government-funded schools. “No pride in genocide,” they chanted.
The incidents took place on Canada Day, which celebrates the formation of the Dominion of Canada under British control. This year’s holiday came in the wake of the discoveries of more than 1,000 unmarked graves of indigenous children at schools run mostly by the Catholic Church. More than 150,000 indigenous children were separated from their families and forced to attend the schools in a practice that lasted about 165 years, and spanned the reigns of Victoria and Elizabeth II, both heads of state for Canada, which is a Commonwealth nation. In many cases, indigenous children were subjected to beatings, sexual abuse, and malnourishment.
In 2015, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission called Canada’s treatment of indigenous peoples “cultural genocide.”
After the discoveries of the graves, several Catholic churches on indigenous land were burned to the ground, and many cities canceled Canada Day events.
The statue of Victoria was pulled down defaced with red paint.
BREAKING: Statue of Queen Victoria covered in red paint, toppled at Manitoba Legislative Building. pic.twitter.com/RRdMLIQq8a
— Renée Rodgers (@ReneeRodgersCTV) July 1, 2021
A statue of Queen Victoria was toppled outside the Manitoba Legislature in Winnipeg, Canada on Thursday, amid outrage over the discovery of unmarked graves belonging to Indigenous Canadian children. pic.twitter.com/nIbO8JRqlF
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 2, 2021
A statue of Elizabeth II nearby endured a similar fate.
Statue of Queen Elizabeth II adjacent to Government House has also been brought down. pic.twitter.com/UCFZYYPKjy
— Renée Rodgers (@ReneeRodgersCTV) July 1, 2021
Canada Day does not technically celebrate Canadian independence. Rather, it marks the establishment of Canada as a self-governing dominion of the United Kingdom in 1867. It wasn’t until 1982 when British Parliament relinquished its power to amend Canada’s constitution.
Watch above via Newsweek/Lucia Rioa via Storyful
