Canada’s national archives has removed Sir John A. Macdonald from its educational site after a string of complaints, with the management claiming the page was “offensive,” “redundant,” and does not represent the country as “diverse and multicultural.”
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, born in Scotland, was Canada’s first prime minister. He is famous for his role in the establishment of Canada as a country on July 1 1867. Some of his other notable achievements include building the Canadian Pacific Railway and forming a strong Conservative Party.
However, in recent years, he has been criticized for some of the policies he introduced, particularly the Indian Act, which had policies oppressive towards indigenous tribes, such as the residential school system that forced indigenous kids into christian boarding schools to assimilate them.
Macdonald’s government also introduced the Chinese Head Tax (a fixed fee charged to every Chinese person entering Canada).
“Our current website contains information that was written many years ago,” stated a notice by the management of the archives, seemingly first noticed by Blacklock’s Reporter.
“Unfortunately, it does not always reflect our diverse and multicultural country, often presenting one side of Canada’s history.
“Library Archives Canada acknowledges that some of its online presence is offensive and continues to correct these issues. That is why content that is redundant or outdated will be removed or rewritten.”
