This is actually pretty big news:
Cornwallis statue draped in "Removing Cornwallis" ceremony
Quote:
Cornwallis statue draped in “Removing Cornwallis” ceremony
Cornwallis statue draped in “Removing Cornwallis” ceremony
JULY 15, 2017 BY TIM BOUSQUET LEAVE A COMMENT
The Cornwallis statue was draped today. Photo: Halifax Examiner
Several hundred people showed up at Cornwallis Park for a ceremony to “remove” the statue honouring Edward Cornwallis.
Speaker Elizabeth Marshall opened the proceedings by telling the crowd that there have been differing opinions in the Indigenous community about what to do with the statue. Some wanted it removed immediately, while others wanted to go through the process agreed to by Halifax City Council — which voted to establish a panel of experts to study and discuss the issue with the public. That issue will come back to council in September.
In the meanwhile, a “Removing Cornwallis” Facebook page was created to force the issue. The group pledged to remove the statue today.
In the end, a compromise position was reached with the help of Mayor Mike Savage, who attended today’s event as an observer, not a participant. Using a city cherry picker, a city worker would drape the statue and the drape will remain in place for a week.
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The backstory is pretty complicated and not very well understood, but
this piece is a pretty good primer.
Something that it does fail to mention is that there was already a Mi'kmaq-Acadian bounty placed on English scalps when Cornwallis issued the bounty on Mi'kmaq scalps so... it's not like that just came out of nowhere. I think the Mi'kmaq aggression was in response to Treaty violations though (?) - again, it's a very complicated history.