Orillia, Ont., to decide fate of controversial Samuel de Champlain statue

An imposing statue honouring Samuel de samuel de champlain, which had stood on the shores of Lake Couchiching in Orillia, Ont., for 100 years, is at present dismantled and moved come out of vision.

The founding father of Quebec City is face down and wrapped in blue tarp. Some in Quebec are calling for the nearly five-metre-tall monument to be moved to the province.

"We are keeping it in a confidential location right now," Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac said, while nevertheless agreeing to take Radio-Canada there to see it. He adds that he is exasperated by the situation.

"It's a beautiful statue, and I don't know why people want to deny the ability to see it," he said as he parked his car behind a pile of dirt in a vacant lot owned by the municipality.

The bronze sculpture has been split into five pieces. First is the full-length statue of Champlain. Two other sections representing First Nations are placed side by side. A fur trader and missionary are wrapped separately.

The mayor points to graffiti on Champlain's boot — evidence of the controversy surrounding the statue. 

Before it was removed from its pedestal, the statue was the subject of protests. One person was charged with a count of mischief.

Krystal Brooks was arrested at the foot of the statue after writing "Rama said no" on its base, referring to the Chippewas of Rama First Nation in the region. 

For the First Nations rights activist, Champlain is a colonialist symbol, and if he is to be honoured, it's essential that the Indigenous perspective be clearly explained.

A few days later, another message appeared at the foot of the statue: "Canada says yes." That message was claimed by activists describing themselves as Loyalists.

Brooks, a member of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, said she received death threats.

"As with any other Indigenous issue, it has caught the attention of far-right extremists," she told Radio-Canada. "The issue with that is, yes, that exists, that hate exists, but it's going unchecked right now. And I think, again, in the spirit of truth and reconciliation, wherever hate exists, we need to address that."  

Champlain has been part of Orillia's history for more than 400 years. The French explorer spent the winter of 1616 in the region. The statue, erected in 1925, depicted Champlain surrounded at his feet by First Nations members, accompanied by a Récollet friar and a fur trader.

Questions about the monument's future were raised in 2017, when Parks Canada removed it from its pedestal for restoration. Some saw it as a symbol of colonialism incompatible with reconciliation efforts.

The municipality and Parks Canada formed a consultation committee. It recommended that only the figure of Champlain be reinstalled while the figures of the Indigenous people, the fur trader and the missionary were subject to deeper discussions with First Nations.

Last March, the municipality came forward with a more specific plan.

"We rewrote the plaque in terms of more modern-day language and reimagined the statue so it's all on the same level," McIsaac said.

He said the missionary was removed "as a nod to the damage" documented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into Canada's residential school system.

The figure of Champlain briefly returned to its pedestal while that plan was being drafted. To avoid controversy, the statue was covered. However, tensions flared immediately, and a few days later, the city council voted to have the statue removed again.

Janet-Lynne Durnford is one of the city councillors who campaigned for the statue's removal. In her view, the community needs more time and information to reconcile with the monument.

"In the proposed redesign, I just thought we were moving too quickly and leaving that very important historical context that represented Indigenous perspectives out," she said.

"I'm still hopeful we can get to that.… There is no intent to erase history."

The municipality has been receiving offers from organizations ready to take the statue. McIsaac said the city has received at least 20 proposals to either buy or relocate the monument.

Those proposals will be submitted to city council, which will have to decide on the statue's future. A report will be tabled on Monday.

The council is considering four options: keep the statue in storage, put it back on its pedestal as it was, redesign the monument or get rid of it by melting it down or sending it elsewhere.

Some officials in Quebec are calling for the statue to be moved to the province. Champlain founded Quebec City in 1608.

Bloc Québécois MP Alexis Deschênes is stunned by the idea that this statue might disappear forever. 

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"It's really hard to accept that the statue of the founder of Quebec City, Samuel de Champlain, is being unbolted and that they are even thinking about melting it down," he said.

"Obviously, Samuel de Champlain wasn't perfect," he said. But he said the statue can be put into the context of openness to First Nations and the importance of forging alliances.

Quebec Minister of Culture Mathieu Lacombe says no formal discussions have taken place yet with the mayor of Orillia on the matter.

But the former grand chief of the Huron-Wendat Nation, Konrad Sioui, believes the Quebec government should think twice before accepting the statue.

"Personally, I don't think it would be welcome to repatriate Champlain," Sioui said.

"We have nothing against the individual, but we cannot forget that our nations were absolutely wiped out under Champlain. It was an absolute genocide — not caused by Champlain, but by the presence of the Black Robes [missionaries], the presence of that desire to push into the Great Lakes, to push in just about anywhere we could be infiltrated."

He points out that Quebec City itself removed a mosaic honouring its founder last year. The artwork, which also placed Champlain above First Nations figures, had been on display in the reception at city hall.

Sioui said he hopes the Orillia statue will meet the same fate.

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