A Tour of Toronto's Most, Uh, Complicated Statues

Most of Toronto's statues feature dead White dudes and were erected by other dead White dudes to celebrate figures whose histories are much more complicated — and often much less worthy of praise — than their positions atop a pedestal might suggest. So this week I grabbed my phone and headed down to Queen's Park to kick off a Twitter tour exploring some of the dark stories behind our city's monuments.

Canada Wasn't Born in 1867

Canadians across the country partied this weekend in honour of #Canada150. But while July 1, 2017 did mark the 150th anniversary of Confederation, the celebrations were also more than a little bit misleading. Canada isn't 150 years old, and Canada Day isn't really its "birthday".

This summer, I'll be hosting a new web series: Canadiana is on the hunt for the most incredible stories in Canadian history: Canadiana. Our first episode — about the bizarre history of "O Canada" — will be coming soon, but in the meantime, we've been posting nuggets of Canadian history on social media. And since the suggestion that our country "began" in 1867 is bizarre and misleading, I took to the Canadiana Twitter account on Canada Day to do a little ranting on the subject.

You'll find my Twitter essay embedded below, and for more tweets about the history of Canada you can follow us on Twitter at @ThisIsCanadiana or like us on Facebook.

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Toronto's Founding Purpose: A Haven For Refugees

More than two hundred years ago, the city of Toronto was founded to serve as the new capital of Upper Canada — a province created to be a home for Loyalist refugees forced to flee from the chaos and persecution they faced in the United States after the American Revolution. Today, as our neighbours south of the border turn their backs on the world, it seems especially important to remember Toronto's founding purpose. Many of our city's greatest moments have come when we've opened our arms to welcome those in need of shelter: from the victims of the Irish Famine, to those fleeing the Soviet crackdown after the Hungarian Revolution, to the Syrian refugees of today. And many of our darkest times have come when we've shut our doors on those who needed our help.

I shared some thoughts about refugees and the history of Toronto on Twitter recently, and have turned them into a Storify post here:

Refugees & The History of Toronto

With the Syrian refugee crisis making headlines around the world and becoming a major issue in Canada's federal election campaign, I thought this might be a good time to share some thoughts on refugees and the history of Toronto. Our city, after all, was founded in the wake of the American War of Independence as the capital of a new province created very specifically to provide a home for Loyalist refugees from that war. So I wrote a Twitter essay — you'll find the Storify version embedded below.

You can also read more about the history of Canada and refugees in Stephanie Bangarth's piece for Active History. And in the Toronto Star, you'll find a story about the Harper government's billboard campaign, warning refugees in Hungary that Canada would reject their applications more quickly than other counties. 

Main image: Ireland Park by me.