Denzil Minnan-Wong, a Toronto city councillor, has drawn criticism for suggesting Toronto鈥檚 Union Station be renamed to honour Sir John A. Macdonald, sa国际传媒鈥檚 first prime minister.
Macdonald was a racist, say the critics, with considerable justification. He held to the common view of the day that the white race, and the British in particular, were superior and that other races and cultures were inferior. He supported taking the vote away from the Chinese out of fear of their 鈥淎siatic principles鈥� and 鈥渆ccentricities 鈥� which are abhorrent to the Aryan race.鈥�
He and the many others who espoused similar beliefs were wrong. It was unjustifiable, abhorrent bigotry.
But recognizing Macdonald鈥檚 achievements is not an endorsement of the racist attitude that prevailed then. We should not ignore any of his aspects; we can be inspired by the good ones and learn valuable lessons from the negative ones.
If we demanded perfection before honouring the great people of history, we would have to set aside Winston Churchill. His immense sense of aristocratic entitlement caused him to live beyond his means for much of his life. At times he depended on wealthy friends to help maintain his lifestyle, and engaged in arrangements that would get him booted from the Canadian Senate today.
But he was great nevertheless. His massive achievements loom far above his human weaknesses. His powerful words continue to inspire long after his death.
Nellie McClung, who finished her life in Saanich and is buried in Royal Oak Burial Park, was a believer in eugenics, as were many of her contemporaries, advocating that the mentally ill should be sterilized.
It was largely through McClung鈥檚 efforts that Manitoba gave women the right to vote and run for public office in 1916, paving the way for women鈥檚 votes in the rest of sa国际传媒. As one of the 鈥淔amous Five,鈥� she helped establish that women are 鈥減ersons鈥� under Section 24 of the British North America Act, which had been used to exclude women from political office in sa国际传媒.
We can remember her for her social and feminist activism, and at the same time, ensure that we have moved past her attitudes toward the 鈥渇eeble-minded.鈥�
The second premier of sa国际传媒 and the founder of the British Colonist was an odd duck, who had changed his name from William Alexander Smith to Amor De Cosmos. He was a liberal reformer who advocated for public education, an end to economic and political privileges, and the institution of responsible representative government.
But he was also eccentric, prone to tears and fistfights. His eccentricities worsened with age, and he was declared insane in 1895, a couple of years before his death.
His sad ending does not erase his worthwhile efforts.
William Lyon McKenzie King has been declared by some scholars to be sa国际传媒鈥檚 greatest prime minister. He dominated Canadian politics from the 1920s through the 1940s, and was keenly interested in remedying social problems.
But he was aloof and unlikable, and his penchant for consulting the spirits of dead entities, including his mother and his dogs, would not stand him in good stead today.
But that did not prevent him from helping establish sa国际传媒 as a respected middle power.
Almost every hero in history had flaws, and while we need not excuse those flaws, we can look beyond their clay feet and honour what they achieved.
