Victoria Park’s Queen Victoria statue doused in red paint again

KITCHENER -

Red paint has been splashed over the Queen Victoria statue in Victoria Park for the second time this summer.

The vandalism could be seen in the Kitchener park Sunday morning on part of the statue’s lower half.

Waterloo regional police were on scene, are investigating, and say they are investigating and have contacted the city to begin cleanup efforts.

On one side the words "Every Child Matters” were written. It’s a phrase that has been used to honour and remember the children that didn’t survive Canada’s residential school system.

Back on Canada Day, as many reckoned with the country’s colonialist past, the statue was discovered with red paint covering large portions.

Those in the park on Sunday said stories of unmarked residential school graves were big in the news a few months ago and that this feels like an attempt to bring that subject back into the public eye. 

“It’s not good that it's vandalized, but whoever has done it is trying to say something,” said local resident Abdi Said. “There should be more representation of the different nationalities of Canada, especially the Indigenous community, because they absolutely have no representation at all.”

“Instead of a statue, we could have some Indigenous art up or sculptures or statues instead,” Kirby Mackenzie, a local resident said.

“It's not even remotely comparable to what Sir John A. Macdonald did to actual living human beings as the architect of "residential schools" aka death schools/camps,” said Amy Smoke, the co-founder of Land Back Camp  “We don't need a third- party group charging $100k+ to do a study to determine it should come down anyways.”

“These statues and monuments, like Sir John A Macdonald, John Galt and Queen Victoria cause trauma, hurt and continue to laugh in the face of Indigenous genocide that has taken place in this Country.” Kween with Guelph Black Heritage said in an email. “These moments are opportunities for us to acknowledge, educate and then hold accountability. We call on our City Councillors, Elected Officials and our Mayor to consider these questions: Why do we have these statues? Why can't they be removed?"

Local sculptor and Waterloo resident Nicholas Rees happened to pass by the statue on Sunday. He says each time paint is put on the monument, it has to be cleaned, which abrades the granite or bronze and ultimately weakens the sculpture.

“It misses the point too, because whether you care for the monarchy or not, and I don’t, we still need reminders of who these people were that made the country,” said Rees.

He adds that, whether the person who did it considers this a form of protest or activism, he feels the artwork shouldn’t be the target.

“It's not the way to protest,” said Rees. “This is a heritage thing, and they should be left, good or bad.”

The City of Kitchener said in an email that staff is aware of the paint and will repair the damage through the normal process, but did not give any timeline for this. 

“The City continues its commitment to reconciliation and anti-racism, which includes contributing to and participating in the Regional Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group," the statement said in part. "We recognize there is much more work to do ahead of us and remain deeply invested in building relationships with local Indigenous communities as we advance this work."