The man behind a petition to remove a statue from in front of St. Catharines city hall says he doesn't want to erase history.
Gavin Fearon brought attention to the statue from 1886 commemorating Private Alexander Watson, a man who fought on behalf of the Canadian government during the North-West Rebellion.
Fearon says removal of the Watson monument is long overdue and it has no place at City Hall.
"Obviously nobody can erase history. That's not what this is about. This is about considering history as its values relate to where we are in the present and where we wish to go as a community moving forward. If the monument is to be kept, and I know there has been mention of it being moved to its originally planned location at Victoria Lawn, perhaps we actually need to consider moving it to the museum and very carefully framing the reasons for it being kept and having been moved in the first place."
Watson grew up in St. Catharines before moving out west and taking part in the North-West Rebellion.
Fearon says the statue is an image of Canada’s ongoing genocide of First Nations, Métis, and Indigenous peoples.
St. Catharines Councillor Karrie Porter says she will bring forward a motion asking for the statue to be removed from City Hall.