Was John A. Macdonald an architect of genocide? Canada's first PM's contribution put to question

The call has been made by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario after passing the resolution written by several teachers from Peel Region and Grand Erie.

The call by the federation has been made on August 14.

According to the Star, the call has been taken "to recognize his central role as an architect of genocide against Indigenous peoples, the impact that this has had on the relationship between Indigenous students and non-Indigenous students, parents, educators, and the ways in which his namesake buildings can contribute to an unsafe space to learn and to work."

Supporting the move, National chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Perry Bellegarde, told the Star: "This is not about revising the history of Canada, it’s about being honest and telling the truth."

"We have a shared history, but we have more importantly a shared future, so let’s build a country on truth and honesty" Bellegarde said.

However, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has a different view. Though she blamed Macdonald for opening residential schools considered to be one of the most problematic in Canadian history, Wynee thinks the name of the Canadian first PM should not have been removed from schools.

Almost saying the same thing as Wynne said, Patrice Dutil, President of the Champlain Society and professor at Ryerson University doesn't approve the accusation made against Macdonald.

Dutil was quoted by the Star: "You just simply cannot level that kind of accusation against a man of the stature of Sir John A. Macdonald and at the same time ignore his accomplishments."

(Reporting by Souvik Ghosh)