Thread by @LoveWilmot

Here's an introduction to this evening's special council meeting, which is starting at the earlier-than-usual time of 6pm. Just one topic on the agenda: The Prime Ministers Path community engagement and subsequent report by advisory firm, First Peoples Group.

Here are the recommendations in their report.

First Peoples Group is an Indigenous advisory firm from Ottawa. They've led several similar consultations before this, including in Kingston, where SJAM served as an MP.

Pro-PM Path advocate Robert Roth, who founded Save Our Statues Wilmot, spoke highly of First Peoples Group when he delegated in Aug 2020. He recommended hiring them to lead a public consultation.

Mr Roth said the Kingston study concluded that their SJAM statue should remain, but with a new plaque to provide "a more balanced picture of Macdonald's role in history."

"This recommendation to keep the statue was not a product of white privilege or systemic racism but rather it came from a certified Indigenous consulting firm that includes some of the best Indigenous minds in the country." - Robert Roth, Aug 2020

"I would like to introduce council to some of the bright, insightful members of this Indigenous company... Because your motion refers to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada..."

"...you will be impressed to know that (FPG president Guy) Freedman was senior advisor to that TRC. Hence, he knows what it takes to bring about reconciliation, and it is not by pitting one group against another and tearing down historic works of art."

More praise for First Peoples Group came from the pro-PM Path newsletter, The Wilmot Sentinel, which was mailed to many homes in the township.

Sentinel spokesperson, New Dundee resident Pat Mighton, welcomed their involvement when First Peoples Group was introduced at the April 26, 2021 council meeting

"We are really excited tonight to be introduced to the members of the First Peoples Group who are going to be working here with the people in Wilmot...It's been a delight to meet the four of you online this evening...We're looking forward to the whole process." Pat Mighton

Full details of the Prime Ministers Path Public Engagement are here: wilmot.ca/en/living-here… The process lasted six weeks and received input from over 475 people, 98% of whom with a direct connection to Wilmot.

This public engagement received more residents' input than any other question that has been put before the Wilmot public by the Township.

First Peoples Group produced a video to introduce the findings in their report: .

Report highlights: One section is titled “Youth Perspective – setting the context for the findings and recommendations.” wilmot.ca/en/living-here…

“We believe that we can no longer promote and perpetuate the cliché that youth represent the leaders or workers of the future..."

“In reality, youth are more engaged in their communities than ever, well educated about current issues the globe is facing, and passionate about building a bright future for not only themselves but for generations to come. Young people can and must be upheld as leaders now.”

As part of the community engagement, the First Peoples Group spoke with 54 students in two classes at an unnamed Wilmot school. One student said, “We should be respectful to those who suffered in residential schools therefore it should not be there.”

Some students favoured retaining the statues, including one who said, “(It) should stay to educate people of what happened back then.”

The majority of the students favoured removing the statues, a view that was echoed by the rest of the community who participated in the public engagement process.

First Peoples Group referred to public consultations held by the City of Kitchener (2014) and Wilfrid Laurier University (2015), which led to the statues being rejected by both.

Laurier's report stated concerns about the educational efficacy of the PM statues project.

After Laurier rejected the PM statues & without public consultation at the time, Wilmot invited project founders Createscape to use the park outside the municipal offices. The version of the project that the Township requested is essentially identical to the one Laurier rejected.

Comments from members of the public that arose from First Peoples Group's public engagement are included in their report. One of the topics discussed was the educational value of the PM Path.

"Much of what we heard from the residents of Wilmot was consistent with findings in the Laurier report which found that the Prime Ministers Path fails to provide the quality of education necessary to explore the complex histories of these individuals represented in statue form."

Although the original agreement between Wilmot & Createscape was signed in Apr 2016, its content was never revealed publicly until Nov 2020. It showed that the Township was responsible for the educational part of the project. Until Nov, Township staff was not made aware of this.

Createscape estimated 22 statues of former PMs would cost $2 mil, from private donations; the Township of Wilmot said the project wouldn't cost taxpayers anything, and indeed it never budgeted nor spent a single dollar to fulfil its contractual requirement to provide education.

Here's my delegation about this topic at the council meeting on November 3, 2020.

First Peoples Group was told that they would receive survey data from schools that had visited the PM Path, to help with assessing its educational value. The data was mentioned by staff in council meetings last year. However, FPG discovered that this data does not exist.

The Kamloops announcement about the discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school came during the community engagement process. Some people who were formerly pro-PM Path changed their views. A few of the comments:

Community cohesion was also mentioned. "When residents of Wilmot Township shared their stories about the impact of the Prime Ministers Path on themselves and their families, many spoke about fear and division."

"Individuals on both sides of the statues debate shared that since debate sparked about the installation of the statues that the community has lacked cohesion and become a place of fear and concern for many."

Lack of accountability is another major part of the report. "Residents of Wilmot Township who participated in the public engagement process expressed concern with the lack of consultation and transparency with which the Township came into possession of the Prime Ministers Path."

What happens to the statues (if council votes to move them) wasn't part of First Peoples Group's mandate for this consultation, but they've included some residents' comments in the report. The report recommends forming a resident-led working group for this next stage.

First Peoples Group observed that the divisions in Wilmot's community run deeper than the PM Path.

The plan for the PM Path was to install statues of Canada's 22 former prime ministers; the first 20 all served during the residential school era, which ended in 1996. From the report's conclusion:

The report ends on a positive note.

As an aside, it appears to me that what's missing from this report is any input from Createscape, the organization that devised the PM statues project. The report is pretty thorough, so I'm inferring this omission isn't because First Peoples Group didn't approach Createscape.

Full details of this evening's meeting are on the Township's website - bit.ly/3dKhU6z. Watch live at youtube.com/channel/UCcA8f…, or follow along here.

Delegations are limited to no longer than five minutes each. A maximum of 150 minutes is set aside for delegations. If more than 30 people have registered, those 150 minutes will be divided equally between all of the speakers. These are the delegation notes from the Township.

This is the motion that will be voted on at the end of the meeting.

There are 26 people registered as delegations this evening, which means everyone will get their full five minutes. If there were more than 30, the 150-minute time slot set aside for delegations would have been divided equally between everyone.

Mayor Armstrong gets the meeting started at 6pm on the dot. He asks for a moment to reflect on the journey towards community cohesion.

Coun Gordijk begins with a land acknowledgement. She thanks former Chief of the Chippewas of the Thames FN Myeengun Henry for his help with her opening statement. She met him at @healing_seven's closing ceremony honouring the 751 graves discovered at Cowessess.

Coun Gordijk says she's reminded of Chief Henry's words about "our commitment to our community, now and for the future seven generations on this shared land."

We start business with Acting CAO Sandy Jackson who gives the background to tonight's meeting. She introduces First Peoples Group's Guy Freedman (President and Senior Partner) and Bob Watts (Senior Fellow: Reconciliation) to talk about their findings.

These are the recommendations being considered.

This video is now being played to start First Peoples Group's presentation.

Guy Freedman, President of FPG, is now speaking live. He says he believes FPG has given an accurate representation of the community's views. He thanks his team for their hard work, and thanks the Township.

Mayor Armstrong thanks the FPG team, and lists the guidelines for delegations this evening.

First up is David Atkinson. He refers to the TRC report with regard to monuments.

He says not one of the 94 calls to action refers to "tearing down statues". He talks about the recommendations 81 and 82. He says the TRC calls for more monuments.

He believes the report's recommendations should be rejected.

(It should be noted that the recommendations ask for the statues to moved elsewhere, not destroyed.)

Dennis Mighton is speaking now. He says he's disappointed in the recommendations. He says that moving the statues won't heal the divisions in the community. He doesn't think open dialogue happened because he wasn't invited to participate.

He says that the consultation wasn't based on majority rules, which he calls a flaw in the process. "The people of Wilmot deserve better."

Next to speak is Dennis's wife, Pat. She also encourages council to reject the proposal. She says there was a lack of transparency in FPG's consultation with youth. "We know nothing about these kids."

She says that if the education component is inadequate, then improve it, don't scrap the whole thing.

(Education in this project is the Township's responsibility, but it has committed to not spending any taxpayer money on it.)

Victor Selby is the next speaker, who is a new resident to Wilmot. He says we should be building Canada up, not tearing it down. "We should respect all aspects of our history."

Lynda Veitch speaks next. She says education is primary and by tearing this path of statues is counterproductive.

I just gave this presentation.

The next scheduled delegation seems to have disappeared, so next up is Nancy Birss. She says she has a heavy heart this evening, and she's very disappointed in the consultation and the report.

She says that there wasn't enough advertising for the consultation. (I counted 12 mentions on news websites for newspapers, TV and radio.)

She says that there was too much emphasis on youth and not on adults, who have more of a grasp of history.

She mentions Livingston, who was an MP who lived in Wilmot, and asks if the students know anything about him. (He wasn't a prime minister, though.)

She suggests fencing the statues in and waiting another six months, rather than paying for storage. She says moving them is sweeping history under the rug.

Ms Birss time is up, but she's still speaking.

Lee Fitzpatrick is the next speaker. He thanks FPG for their work. He says that the path was accepted by previous council anonymously. He suggests creating a Canadian historical path, with statues of people who have contributed to Canada, not just PMs.

The path would be the subject of guided tours. Add a pavilion at the end for meetings, etc. He talks about Indigenous ceremonies and demonstrations that he's witnessed. He also talks about sports heroes, too. So this wouldn't be just politicians.

Coun Hallman asks Dawn Mittelholtz (clerk) what the process going forward when it comes to Points of Personal Privilege. She's referring to the naming of individuals. Ms Mittelholtz says that anyone making defamatory comments will be given a warning.

Marion Opthoog is next. She received a bookmark in the mail about the consultation process, but it arrived after the deadline. She says she wonders what it means to be a Canadian and an Ontarian.

"What does the PM Path means to me? This country is changing. I think that's a good thing." She says the PM Path is living history because it's growing. She says if we don't see something, we forget.

Marilyn Sararus are next. She says Zoom meetings aren't ideal. She would prefer a small group around a table over a cup of coffee. She said that the FPG consultation was held virtually. Her suggestion is to continue pausing the PM Path until the election in 2022.

She would like to see the FPG recommendations, but in reverse order, so moving the statues would be last.

She wants the PM Path as a referendum item at the time of the next municipal election. This decision should be made by Wilmot's citizens.

John Jordan begins his presentation with a land acknowledgement and then thanks council for "bringing the PM Path project to where we are now." He says they're "way ahead of the curve compared to the rest of the country. Thank you for your leadership."

He says he was pleased to read the comments from students and is surprised so many didn't know about the PM Path, which is "1,600 metres from Waterloo-Oxford DSS."

He says he's particularly concerned about one aspect of the report. The Township was supposed to oversee the educational program for the PMs on the path, but that responsibility to create it "was never communicated to staff."

He asks members of the previous council to explain how this was going to be possible with no cost to the taxpayer. "It was clear it was going to take staff time to develop the educational material which results in a significant cost to taxpayers."

Mr Jordan ends by saying he hopes that council's decisions made tonight reflect its personal education and the learning journey.

Susan Sutherland is next. She says she was a Canadian air force brat, and lived all over Canada. Growing up, she learned about the history of Canada as “two solitudes” – the English and the French, with little knowledge of Indigenous people.

She’s lived in Ward 2 for 16 years. She was surprised when she learned the PM statues were coming to Wilmot after hearing they’d previously been rejected. “I didn’t look into why these statues were considered offensive. I apologize for that ignorance.”

After the SJAM protests last year, Ms Sutherland decided it was time I learn why the statues were so contentious, so she took the University of Alberta Indigenous Peoples course. She read books by Indigenous authors including 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act.

“I became more and more uncomfortable about the whole Prime Minister Statue Path issue in our Township.”

She’s pleased that council contracted First Peoples Group to study the issue and come up with the recommendations that they’ve presented tonight. “I take this public opportunity to thank First Peoples Group for their thoughtful report and recommendations.”

She says comments from the young people in Wilmot hits home especially with the knowledge of the more than 1,000 children found in unmarked burial sites at former residential schools. “The focus on how to go forward in a meaningful way is one that encourages me.”

Ms Sutherland thanks Wilmot councillors, some of whom have received personal attacks and harassment over the past couple of years.

“They took a strong stand on the issue long before other communities did. I’m very proud of them for what they've done. It’s not easy to go against something that might have been politically expedient but morally wrong.”

Ms Sutherland says this is the first step in the healing process with Indigenous people. “I can't change what happened in the past. I can work to be an ally & for that I thank those who protested because they gave me courage to look at my own beliefs & work to change them.”

She supports the recommendations.

Olivia Miller is next up. She thanks FPG for their heartfelt work during a time of conflict. "This isn't the Wilmot we're used to." She says she isn't afraid of the word conflict. It's clear that many residents want to recognize Canada's history.

She thinks the PM Path is a misguided way of accomplishing that, and her heart aches for the pain this is causing Indigenous residents. We're all coming from different places. She says families are dealing with the trauma of children aren't coming home.

"This project must be abandoned" to avoid further pain to Indigenous residents.

The next delegation is Marie Pavey, who is a 29-year Baden resident. She talks about Indigenous students who made up about half of the class at her school. No one talked about residential schools, perhaps because they couldn't bring themselves to.

They had to navigate barriers that weren't apparent to her. She agrees that history is important, and it continues to cause harm, so we need to do better. Her faith tells her to stand on the side of those whose voices have been silenced.

She likes the symbolism of leaving SJAM in place, covered in red paint, but what she believes is less important than what Indigenous voices are saying. She asks council to agree to the recommendations.

She points out that the report doesn't call for melting down the statues, but moving them temporarily until we can figure out something more appropriate for them.

Lillianne Dunstall is next. She says she was excited for the community when she first heard about the PM Path because of the jobs it would create and the tourism. She said that, like Susan Sutherland, she decided to do her own research.

She thinks that not many people go through that process. She thinks this is an opportunity to work with First Nations in creating a better educational experience.

Barry Wolfe is the next speaker. He says context in history is important. We can't change the future by removing history. He talks about diseases that killed people in 1867, and affected Indigenous people most of all.

He lists SJAM's accomplishments, as well as the darker aspects of his life. He compares this to Joseph Brant, who also did good things, but owned slaves and killed his son in a knife fight.

(Believe it or not, Mr Wolfe is speaking in favour of the PM Path.)

He wants council to reject the first recommendation to move the statues into storage.

Next is Robyn Spicer, who is Haudenosaunee. "I am the Indian or 'savage' that some of the prime ministers tried to erase through genocide."

She refers to the recently announced Indigenous children's remains as evidence of genocide of the original people who lived on this land. "1,000s more children will be discovered in Canada in the weeks, months, years to come."

Ms Spicer says that Indigenous families were destroyed because powerful men thought they were a superior race and tried to erase the "Indian problem". They took our land, cultures and lives. "Our history with these oppressors is not the same as your history."

There are many positive things the PMs did, but also many negatives. She thinks that the PM statues honour them but don't refer to the injustices. "Is it right for Indigenous people and POC to be shown the Wilmot community still honours racist acts of the past that are harmful?"

Ms Spicer says that there's now no excuse for not knowing what the statues represent. "You wouldn't ask an abused person to take space where the abuse took place. To show reverence to the abuser is insulting and traumatic."

She adds statues in public spaces emphasizes that lives and histories of Indigenous people are not valued in spaces that are supposed to be shared. "Is this that we want in our community? I hope not."

Ms Spicer says her Indigenous voice should be at the forefront of the debate. A plaque for each PM is not good enough as the statue still honours the individual. Wilmot isn't the right place for these statues, the home of wonderful, loving individuals. "Justice is coming."

Next is Glen Mathers. He says that the PM Path was in its early stages and a symposium was planned for spring 2020. He says that the SJAM statue was there to be held accountable. He says that because Canada Day this year was a time to pause and reflect, the PM Path should be, too

Fiona Batte is delegating now. She thanks FPG for their leadership and says she's proud of the community members who spoke up. "This is exactly how decisions like this that affect our community should be approached, through public consultation."

Ms Batte says she was part of Laurier's statue advisory committee that discussed whether the university should take on the PM statues project (2015/16). She was naïve about atrocities against Indigenous people but quickly learned through that consultation.

"I came to the conclusion that the statues were harmful. Why was the need to erect these statues more important than the harm they'd cause?"

She was disappointed to learn that the statues were coming here. On April 4, 2016 she emailed her councillor and the mayor to ask for a public forum for residents before a decision was made. Ms Batte thought Wilmot residents would reach the same conclusion as Kitchener & WLU.

"So much damage has been caused in our community over the past five years because our leadership wasn't willing to listen and learn back then. I'm thankful this council has opened the door to listening to the community and learning from previous errors in judgement."

Ms Batte says she supports the three recommendations in the report.

"Our decisions and actions are important to how we move forward to reconcile and heal from the dark parts of Canadian history. None of us created that history, but we have a responsibility to ensure a brighter future. The first step is to accept the recommendations from FPG."

Harrison Rees is next. He says this was supposed to be a PM Path, and it's turned into a format for prejudice. He looks at these as people who took us through two world wars and a depression, and they deserve to be honoured. "They saved our country."

Dave Caputo (co-founder of Createscape) is the next delegation. He thanks council members for standing up and being leaders. He asks council to consider the artists, the donors and volunteers.

He says that the people who worked on this project had no malice in their hearts. At worst, they had a naïve pride in Canada. He says the PM Path was a gift to Wilmot, and it's the Township's to do with as it sees fit.

Donald Kasta is next. He says it's unfortunate the statues were placed on the path without enough educational information. He says that he doesn't know why some councillors changed their position on the PM Path.

He says that former PMs genuinely thought they were doing the right thing by setting up residential schools. He thinks we should make the path a better teaching experience by involving Indigenous people.

He wants to continue with the pause and not make a decision tonight. He would hate to lose this opportunity to learn.

The final delegation is Kris Wilkinson. He says it's impossible to understand the pain that the Indigenous community has experienced. He says he's here to be an objective voice of reason. He says not enough consultation was done.

Tax dollars are not being respected. Tearing down statues is censorship. He says that the FPG report is biased.

Mr Wilkinson is another delegation that quotes former senator Murray Sinclair. He says he wants the statues to remain until there's a referendum at the next election.

There will be a short break until 8:20pm.

And we're back. Mayor Armstrong is reading the recommendation before council this evening (p1-2 of the agenda package).

Coun Hallman thanks FPG for their guidance and getting as many voices as possible to be heard, and she thanks staff. She says it's never too late to unlearn and relearn. Her wish to make Wilmot inclusive is what caused her to bring this motion.

She says Canadians didn't want to listen to Indigenous people about their experiences. We can blame text books, websites and statues for our poor education. We're not alone in this national time of reflection.

She asks us to imagine our cultures being erased, as happened to Indigenous people. Council is here to consider the relevance of the *likenesses* of people who have caused harm and continue to do so. "This will be our legacy."

To her fellow councillors, Coun Hallman says she hopes they can move along this path together.

Coun Pfenning thanks FPG for leading this consultation with grace and compassion, especially with the news that came out over the past few weeks. She also thanks staff, and she's sorry that they have been the target of nasty comments.

She addresses the delegation about the supposed about-face of some councillors. She says she's answered this before, and she hopes it's heard this time. She says she's taken in more information that has affected her perspective.

She talks about the Mandela exhibition at the Ken Seiling Museum before COVID. When she lived in what was Zaire, she would visit South Africa. Mentions her stepmother & what her reaction would have been if she saw a statue of someone who oppressed her or killed children she knew.

Coun Pfenning says that the statues don't have any aspects that would educate. Good intentions do not mitigate the harm the project has caused. She doesn't believe that the previous council nor artists.

She says that while the number of responses seem small, it's the largest response to any public consultation by the Township. It's disingenuous to impugn the character of FPG.

The statues are not history, just objects.

She says removing these statues creates space to learn about more aspects of history. (Coun Pfenning said earlier that Canada's history goes back further than 154 years, and should include the 1,000s of years of the Original People.)

Coun Pfenning: "We've been told by residents that these statues cause harm, but are we listening? I'm listening."

She doesn't believe that the community can heal unless we remove the cause of the pain.

"It takes courage to speak, but it also takes courage to listen." Coun Pfenning.

Coun Gerber says the Township was fortunate to have FPG and their wisdom. He also thanks the delegations and consultation participants. He says that the next phase needs to bring out the best of the community.

He says we are the cohesive giving community that we aspire to be. He quotes some of the positive comments from the youth voices in the report. He believes that the story of Canada more than ever before, but this might not be the best way to accomplish that.

Coun Fisher says that there were hundreds of people when the first statue arrived in 2016 and every subsequent statue brought fanfare. Our views of statues changed quickly last year. He thinks hiring the FPG was a wise choice.

He talks about the more than 1,000 Indigenous remains that have been announced in the past few weeks. He acknowledges that the horrors of the residential schools are represented by these statues to Indigenous people. He says removing statues is a worldwide consideration.

Coun Fisher asks if having statues in Wilmot are worth the price of harmony in the community. If the statues remain, this disharmony will remain, and there will be more pain and vandalism. "Indigenous people are hurting. Removing statues don't make us less Canadian."

He says FPG were a joy to work with. (He and Coun Pfenning were part of the working group.) He says he knows there will be people who will disappointed at the end of the night.

Coun Gordijk says she can't understand how difficult this process has been for FPG during the past few weeks. She thanks staff, especially the acting CAO, for their work through this process.

She says that while SJAM has been the focus of the harm being discussed, there are other problematic PMs, too. Louis St Laurent (60s Scoop) and Mackenzie King (refused to accept a ship with Jewish refugees during WW2, many of whom died in the Holocaust.

Coun Gordijk says she read an article about hospitals telling Indigenous mothers their babies had died so that they could be given to Canadian people. "Some people don't deserve to be on a pedestal."

She says that there was no outrage when SJAM was replaced on the $10 bill by Viola Desmond, so it shows we can move past this.

Coun Hallman asks for clarification from Guy Freedman about the makeup of the working group/committee. He cautions against the idea of a referendum as it negates the participation of youth. They should be able to have a say.

Coun Hallman asks about balancing settler voices and Indigenous voices. Mr Freedman says he would suggest involving other Nations.

Coun Gerber wonders if there's any overlap with the consultation working group and the proposed diversity community sounding board. Mr Freedman says it helps for continuity.

Mr Freedman corrects the quote about tearing down statues from Murray Sinclair, which was used by several delegations. He says that context is important, and Sen Sinclair supported moving the SJAM statue in Kingston last week.

Bob Watts (FPG) thanks people who took time out of their busy lives to share their views. He says the purpose of the consultation was to create a snapshot of the community, not a tally of numbers. This allowed for the expression of views.

Coun Gordijk asks why there are concerns about the number of participants, because this consultation had more respondents than any other issue that has come before the community. She says that she doesn't believe there was a lack of engagement.

Coun Gerber says monuments of leaders in ancient Rome weren't placed in Rome itself, but in places that the Romans dominated. He's in favour of accepting the recommendations tonight. He asks, what does love require me to do? Part of that is to put the mistakes of 2016 behind us.

He says a referendum might prolong the pain and harm being caused.

Coun Pfenning says referendums are messy and traumatic.

(I was born in the UK; ask me about Brexit.)

Coun Hallman echoes Coun Pfenning's comments to Couns Gerber and Fisher, and thanks them. She says every single one of us has learned.

Mr Freedman says he's humbled to hear the words tonight. He's a stage 4 cancer survivor and talks about Gord Downie. He actually quotes The Beatles: Love is all you need.

Mayor Armstrong thanks everyone who has participated in this process during the past few months, especially First Peoples Group. He says it's disheartening to see the divide amongst the people of Wilmot.

He says it doesn't matter what we look like; we're all human beings.

He says that's what the majority of people want on this blue marble, the third rock from the sun.

The mayor says he doesn't support everything in the recommendation, but he does support the important parts. This will be a recorded vote.

Coun Hallman - in favour
Coun Gordijk - in favour
Coun Fisher - in favour
Coun Gerber - in favour
Coun Pfenning - in favour
Mayor Armstrong - in favour

The recommendation is carried unanimously.

Ms Jackson thanks the staff team, many of whom are on vacation but are in the meeting to show their support. She also thanks FPG for their work. Mayor Armstrong corrects the media misconception that Ms Jackson wrote the recommendations; it was FPG.

We're adjourned at the end of an historic meeting at 9:35pm.