BADEN -- Councillors in the Township of Wilmot voted Monday night to defer a motion calling for the pausing of the Prime Ministers Path project in Baden, to their next council meeting.
The project would eventually see statues of all of Canada’s prime ministers brought to Castle Kilbride.
Currently the path has six statues, including William Lyon Mackenzie King and Kim Campbell, along with Sir John A. Macdonald.
Four new statues were expected in the near future, but were put on hold due to COVID-19 related delays.
The path is currently home to the town's Sir John A. Macdonald statue, which has been targeted by vandals and protesters over the past few weeks.
Some community members have been calling on the township to remove the statue completely because of the role Macdonald played establishing the residential school system.
A number of delegates spoke at the meeting, both against and in favour of pausing the project.
Those against pausing the project saying the project is a valuable educational tool, that is meant to start a conversation to learn about the good and bad of our past leaders. They also say around 200 volunteers and over $700,000 in fundraising has helped get the project off the ground.
Many of those in favour of pausing the project are also calling for the statues to be removed.
Councillor Angie Hallman put forward a motion in June asking to halt the path project until completing consultation with Indigenous groups and any other impacted groups.
Council ultimately agreeing Monday night to defer the motion until their next council meeting on July 27.
