A statue of Halifax’s controversial military founder Edward Cornwallis has been removed from the park that also bears his name.
Halifax council voted 12-4 on Tuesday to “temporarily” remove the bronze statue and put it into storage.
Workers could be seen Wednesday morning setting up a crane and scaffolding around the bronze figure in preparation for its removal.
Cornwallis is a polarizing figure viewed by some as an honourable leader who founded Halifax in 1749, while others see him as the military commander of a bloody and barbaric extermination campaign against the Mi’kmaq people.
In October 1749, Cornwallis issued an order that came to be known as the scalping proclamation – where his government would pay a bounty to anyone who killed a Mi’kmaq adult or child.
Cornwallis died in office in 1776 while serving as governor of Gibraltar.
#Cornwallis has been escorted from his south end park. #Halifax pic.twitter.com/EEaPrhJJaX
— Katie Hartai (@katiehartai) January 31, 2018
Cornwallis moved to storage…and a bald eagle even made an appearance, kind of surreal. #Cornwallis for @chronicleherald pic.twitter.com/qpUyfKTf96
— tim krochak (@real_timbophoto) January 31, 2018
Work is underway to remove the #CornwallisStatue. BG: https://t.co/IM7IfxEgi5 #HFXPoli #Cornwallis #EdwardCornwallis pic.twitter.com/cOhnUjIpOq
— Steve Silva (@SteveCSilva) January 31, 2018
The municipality says the bronze portion is estimated to weigh about 2,500 pounds. #CornwallisStatue #Cornwallis #HFXHistory pic.twitter.com/97gZ4V6GkX
— Steve Silva (@SteveCSilva) January 31, 2018
Edward Cornwallis statue about to come down @globalhalifax pic.twitter.com/Ku8HzhGtIM
— Reynold Gregor (@reynoldgregor) January 31, 2018
Crane in place by the Cornwallis statue now. pic.twitter.com/4JKQA6eTcx
— Emily Baron Cadloff (@EmilyBCCTV) January 31, 2018
