Sir John A. Macdonald probably wasn’t a Kitchener Rangers fan.
There’s little historical evidence to suggest he was a big booster of hockey in general – and more importantly, he died more than 70 years before Kitchener’s Ontario Hockey League franchise was founded.
But that hasn’t stopped Canada’s first prime minister from donning the Rangers’ red, white and blue this week.
A sculpture of Macdonald will make its first public appearance Friday night, in an on-ice ceremony before the Rangers host the Belleville Bulls.
It’s part of two bigger projects – an OHL-wide one to honour Macdonald on his 200th birthday, and a local one aimed at building statues of all Canada’s prime ministers.
That latter project made headlines last winter, when Kitchener city councillors were presented with a plan to place 22 statues of former prime ministers in Victoria Park.
The $2-million cost of The Statue Project would largely have been funded with private money, but councillors nonetheless turned down the idea after a public survey was largely against it.
The statue of Macdonald was created by local artist Ruth Abernethy, and doesn’t just feature the man himself.
It also contains two chairs on opposite sides, which Abernethy hopes will foster debate – and gives rise to the name of the piece, ‘A Canadian Conversation.’
“John is keen to hear thoughts from collected guests,” Abernethy said in a press release.
“Between these two equal and unassuming seats will spring the richest dialogue, refreshing resolutions and the seeds of real progress towards the creation of a new country.”
After being shown at The Aud, the nearly 1,000-pound statue will move to TheMuseum as it awaits a more permanent home.
Organizers with The Statue Project say they still hope to have sculptures of all Canada’s prime ministers at a location in Waterloo Region by 2017.
