Markham's John A. Macdonald PS name not currently up for debate: board
Major teachers union wants to strip name of first PM from schools

yorkregion.com
Aug. 25, 2017
By Teresa Latchford

Markham’s Sir John A. Macdonald Public School will keep its name for now.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario has called on its local school board to rename a Pickering school named after Canada’s first prime minister, claiming he committed "genocide." But the York Region District School Board has confirmed it hasn’t heard the same request from the York branch of the ETFO.

“We have not been approached about renaming any of our schools,” YRDSB spokesperson Licinio Miguelo said.

The York board’s naming-and-renaming policy states the name of a school is carefully selected with the intention of providing an inspiration for learning while supporting the mission, vision and values of the board.

Under the current policy, a school may be renamed due to a significant change in school focus, amalgamations of schools, school replacement or the development of a new identity for the school. However, the reasons for renaming a school are not limited to only these scenarios.

The Markham school is safe for now but that doesn’t mean the school board won’t hear the request in the future as the ETFO passed a motion during its recent annual meeting that will lobby local branches to ask their school boards to rethink the use of Sir John A. Macdonald’s name.

David Mastin, president of ETFO’s Durham local, says there was “a fair bit” of discussion on the motion and he expects it to be controversial locally.

York Region’s ETFO president David Clegg has yet to return requests for comment.

Scarborough, Brampton, Kingston, Hamilton, Waterloo and Belleville schools also share the name of the politician.

Macdonald served as prime minister from 1867 to 1873 and again from 1878 to 1891.

He is often characterized as a nation-builder who led Canada through its early growth - helping to bring the country together under Confederation and overseeing the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

However, critics have raised concerns about Macdonald’s treatment of Indigenous people, notably his role in creating the residential school system and starving Indigenous communities to facilitate building the railway.

Macdonald's face appears on the $10 bill and his name can be found on Ottawa’s Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway and Highway 401, which is formally named the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway.

His grave has been designated a national historic site, and statues of Macdonald have been erected across Canada, including on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

“There is no worry that his legacy will disappear...but do we need (his name) to be on public schools?” Mastin asks. “Our values change over time.”