Who was Responsible?

With regard to John A. Macdonald and the residential schools, I would like to make two points.

1.  Although there is firm evidence that he supported the implementation of these schools, I have heard no evidence that he ever advised that the children there should be mistreated. The blame for the mistreatment belongs elsewhere. Where?  Apparently, the schools were operated by Christian churches of certain denominations. The greatest offender was the Roman Catholic church and its representatives, priests and nuns. The same organization has been responsible for abuse of children and its coverup in many countries since that time. Its leadership in Rome has refused to apologize for the actions of its people in the Canadian schools.

In my opinion, the Roman Catholic church does not deserve the status and privileges that it enjoys in Canada today. I have heard of a poll that found that more than half of Ontario voters think that there should be only one publicly supported school system in Ontario, as elsewhere in Canada. The present system is very costly and is unfair to everyone else. I've never understood why officials of the separate school system do not come forward and admit it. They continue to be selfish rather than ethical as they claim to teach their students.

Let the City of Kingston take the lead in promoting the long overdue move to a single public school system in Ontario. Because of many vested interests, this will not be easy to accomplish, but let's start. It may be a consolation to our indigeneous fellow Canadians to see the foremost abusers of the children experience the loss of an undeserved privilege.

2.  Certain people have been honoured by their names on streets, buildings and schools in Kingston. Was Sir John the worst offender among these? Were Frontenac and LaSalle ever less than nice to the native people whom they met? If so, must we find new names for our county, two high schools and our hockey team? I hope not. Please don't pick on Sir John without first cosidering possible faults of others. We are all indebted to Macdonald for his important contributions to the creation of our beloved Canada and its extension from sea to sea.