The Dashing Chronicles: Sir John A. Macdonald, Canadian Adolph
- Winston McLean | November 14, 2017
John L.: Recently we have seen calls from the Indigenous community to have Prime Minister John A. MacDonald’s face removed from our currency. This has prompted some reaction from members of mainstream society, saying this is political correctness gone too far.
Here to comment is Eagle Feather News’ columnist voted most likely to. I give you Sir Dirk Unabashedly Dashing. Most likely to what, Dirk?
Dirk: You name it, John, and its likely to go down. But let us not digest and get straight to the heart of the matter: Should Canada revisit honouring some of its national heroes on Canadian currency, national buildings, highways, and butter tarts?
John L.: According to radio personality Murray Wood, the push to recast national figures like MacDonald, Nicholas Davin Flood, Edgar Dewdney, and Duncan Campbell Scott as villains is asking too much of Canadians. In fact, Woods described this as a knee-jerk reaction on the part of First Nation and Metis People.
Dirk: That is an interesting way to describe the situation, John. You would have to have some pretty weak reflexes for something that happened over a hundred years ago to prompt a physical reaction today. Nerves either react now, or they don’t, and Mr. Woods’ nerves seem to be quite touchy on this subject.
John L.: So what do you make of this? Are Indigenous people of Canada going too far?
Dirk: Well, John, lets take a look at a similar situation that occurred in Germany.
There was this dude, Adolph Hitler who had a dream. Pursuit of his dream meant destruction of certain people and their way of life so the “Chosen Ones” could claim their rightful inheritance.
To assist him, Hitler had the aid of Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Goebbels and Joseph Mengele.
John L.: I sense you are about to wade in some controversial waters here, Dirk.
Dirk: Let’s start with that sweetheart Himmler. He was the chief architect and enforcer Hitler’s of purification of Germany policy. In pursuit of MacDonald’s grand design in Canada we have Edgar Dewdney.
Goebbels was Hitler’s public relations monkey, whose function was a lot like that of Duncan Campbell Scott for MacDonald: to promote the hell out of the leader’s agenda, only Scott had a direct hand in making Canada’s assimilation policy, while Goebbels was content being Hitler’s fart catcher.
This leaves us Hitler’s “Doctor of Death”, Joseph Mengele. This bad-ass dreamt up the concentration camps and supervised medical experiments on the undesirables of Germany. This was pretty much the job of Nicholas Davin Flood. And yes, there were experiments on Indian children in Canada.
John L.: That is a pretty harsh comparison. I’m not sure the match-ups align though.
Dirk: True, by Nazi Germany standards the Canadian approach to its Indian problem was a tame, boring experiment. But the Nazis had a decade or three to perfect MacDonald’s mission: instead of waiting patiently for his undesirables to die or assimilate, Hitler had furnaces.
John L.: Alright, Dirk, what do you make of the those who say First Nation and Metis people are going too far in tearing down national Canadian heroes.
Dirk: John, I get that the Murray Woods of Canada are weary. Many Canadians are shocked about residential schools, land swindles, repression, and are conflicted when seeing Indians getting so many freebies. When will it end so we can all be equal?
On the other hand, there are some others in the mainstream who realize, yes, “stuff” was messed up in the past, but I didn’t do anything to the Indians. It’s like all white guys are always wrong, and that’s not fair.
And, on the third hand, there are still others who truly idolized the likes of MacDonald, Flood, Dewdney and Scott and others as beacons of pioneering progress. Realizing now they have been misled must be traumatic. Who do you believe in now?
John L.: So there is a sense of fatigue in the mainstream. What do you say to those who resist the tearing down of these national heroes?
Dirk: Well, John, if after you do your own personal research in these customers’ dark histories, and you still feel their names and faces should be festooned on Canadian currency and buildings, then that says a lot about who you are. That’s right John, I said it. Festooned.
Dirk says, “Ok, here I am. Now what are your other two wishes?”