Community engagement process on prime ministers’ oath statue project ongoing

People sitting in the park and listening to Cheyanne Thorpe discuss the negative impacts of the Sir John A MacDonald statue, which stands behind her.
A photo of the sit-in protest at the location of the Sir John A MacDonald statue in Baden, Ontario. Cheyanne Thorpe is speaking to the crowd. Photo by Dan Kellar.
Dan Kellar - CKMS - KitchenerON | 06-06-2021
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Host: Namish Modi

The First People’s Group is in the midst of conducting a community engagement process in regards to the Prime Ministers' Path in Baden and steps forward.

CKMS interviewed Guy Freedman, president of the First People’s Group, an Indigenous advisory firm based out of Ottawa, on May 26 on the issue.

Debate around the need for the path began when the Sir John A. Macdonald (SirJAM) statue was painted red in June 2020. The painting off a heated debate within the community of whether the statue should remain. After much deliberation, Wilmot council temporarily removed the SirJAM statue later in 2020.

Earlier in 2021, council hired the First People’s Group to conduct a consultation process and conduct community engagement for the path.

“These are Wilmot recommendations,” said Freedman, highlighting the need for community engagement on the future of the path.

The community engagement process launched earlier in May. The next official update from the First People’s Group is on June 5 and the public can give feedback right now on the Township of Wilmot website.

This program is a part of the “Local Journalism Initiative” grant program and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, the Government of Canada, and the CKMS Newsroom.

Check out the archived versions of  this program and other episodes on radiowaterloo.ca/news., and other stories commissioned under the Local Journalism Initiative at canada-info.ca.

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