Update: Mason clarifies his since-deleted tweet was agreeing only that Whitman, Adams and Hendsbee need public shaming, not that they are shitheads. The councillor previously told The Coast he stood by his comment when asked about “shitheads” Tuesday evening, but today says he thought we were referencing a different comment. “Sorry, totally my bad,” Mason tweets.
Matt Whitman’s opposition to Halifax’s Cornwallis panel has him facing tough criticism from the city’s poet laureate and one of his fellow councillors.
On Tuesday, Regional Council voted to create a special committee to conduct historical research and hold public engagement sessions on how the municipality commemorates both Edward Cornwallis and the area’s Indigenous history.
An eight-member panel, half of whom will be chosen by the Nova Scotia Assembly of Mi’kmaq Chiefs, will report back to council with recommendations in six-to-eight months.
Whitman, along with Stephen Adams, were the only two votes against.
The Hammonds Plains–St. Margarets councillor says his opposition to the panel is multi-faceted. The administrative order doesn’t specify “fact-based” decisions, Whitman claims, and it’s too narrowly focused around Cornwallis.
“How about African Nova Scotians?” he says. “How about Acadians? How about gays, lesbians, everyone else? This is just about Cornwallis. There are lots of other names—Barrington, Quinpool, Coburg—that we should also be looking at if we go down this road.”
“He’s ‘all lives matter’-ing that,” HRM poet laureate Rebecca Thomas says in response to Whitman’s comments. “He’s ‘not-all-men’-ing us. We’re not having a conversation about that.”
Barrington Street is either named after William Barrington, a minor British politician, or is a misspelling of Harrington. Coburg is presumably named after the German Saxe-Coburg dynasty. It’s believed Quinpool Road gets its name from an Irish widow—named Quinn—who lived by the Northwest Arm.
There doesn’t appear to be a public effort to rename any of those three streets, but calls to topple Cornwallis’ south-end statue and rename Cornwallis Street and Park have been ongoing for years.
Whitman was also against a similar panel proposed a year ago by councillor Waye Mason. The councillor argued at the time that Cornwallis “wasn’t perfect,” but his celebration on city land didn’t require further evaluation.
Mason’s motion was defeated by a single vote. The idea only came back to council this past spring after a performance by Thomas of her poem, “Not Perfect,” which was directly inspired by comments from Whitman and his fellow councillors.
Thomas says Whitman’s latest “all-or-nothing” remarks on the Cornwallis panel are problematic when it comes to truth and reconciliation.
“It places a lot of pressure on the oppressed group to be virtuous if they want to have any kind of argument to move forward. It’s either we do it all and be perfect, or if you can’t be perfect and do it all then it’s not worth doing.”
While some view Halifax’s founder as an important figure in the city’s birth, a growing contingent say Cornwallis’ violent actions towards the Mi’kmaq people mark him as little more than a symbol of colonial oppression, unworthy of civic honours.
The outcry climaxed over the summer when HRM briefly covered the statue in a dusty tarp to dissuade members of the public from ripping it off the pedestal themselves.
Given the high stakes, Stephen Adams argues that making an unbiased ruling could be difficult for some panellists.
“I dare say that the four Indigenous members will be under immense pressure to have that statue removed,” Adams told his colleagues on Tuesday. “I don’t think it’s fair to put them in that situation.”
That’s faulty logic, counters Thomas, and condescending to the fact-based history of the area’s Indigenous population.
“That would be like me saying, ‘He’s one guy who’s representing an entire riding. That’s a lot of pressure,’” she adds. “He’s saying we don’t have the capacity to make these decisions based off of our knowledge and skills and expertise.”
Adams wasn’t alone in fretting about the panel’s membership. Councillor David Hendsbee questioned whether it was appropriate for historians and Mi’kmaq experts from outside HRM to have a seat at the table. Whitman also chimed in on the topic, claiming the wording of the administrative order could be mistakenly construed as a requirement for the panel to have four non-Indigenous members.
“I would say my concerns would be that all eight should be members of the human race,” Whitman later told reporters, echoing a comment made earlier in the day by councillor Steve Stretch. “I know four are going to be Indigenous. I think the other four should possibly be Indigenous. Or not.”
The remarks by Whitman, Adams and Hendsbee prompted one local Twitter user to call-out the three councillors as “shitheads” in need of public shaming. Councillor Waye Mason agreed with at least half of that assessment.
Whitman in particular, Mason tweeted, appears to have a “mammoth” lack of understanding and pride in his ignorance of Indigenous issues.
“Emotions tend to run high and people tend to get quite entrenched, but I think it’s important that we approach this with the spirit of openness and we look at this with an open mind,” Mason had told his colleagues earlier in the day. “That we all, both this council and the people on the committee, are willing to listen to different points of view…and we try hard as a community to come together and resolve this issue.”
Council approved the four names it will appoint to the expert panel during an in-camera session Tuesday night. The remaining committee members will be nominated by the Assembly of Chiefs.
The names were not immediately released to the public, pending confirmation.
A separate staff report on HRM’s truth and reconciliation efforts is expected back in the next few weeks.
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Eight-person expert panel proposed to determine the fate of Cornwallis
Welcome to Mi’kma’ki
Watch this: Cornwallis protester disrupts council, records video
Cornwallis tarp already removed
Mayor and Mi’kmaq Chiefs oppose plans to topple Cornwallis statue
Over 150 years of absolute bullshit
Poet laureate heartened by council’s Cornwallis vote
“Destroy the Indians”
Matt Whitman apologizes for “Chinese fire drill” video
Cornwallis panel needs to proceed slowly, cautions HRM councillors
David Hendsbee surprised Halifax didn’t use a red tarp to cover Cornwallis statue
“It’s awe-inspiring in the ignorance.” Rebecca Thomas frustrated by David Hendsbee’s Cornwallis comments
City councillors square-off over Segways on the ferry
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Mayor “prepared to revisit” integrity commissioner after Whitman debate
This article appears in Sep 28 – Oct 4, 2017.
A simpler article could have read: Righteous indignation, righteous indignation, righteous indignation and righteous indignation.
Another way of looking at the vote could be that Adams and Whitman had the courage to stand up for their convictions.
Whitman did cite many excellent examples of groups who, over the last 268 years, suffered disenfranchisement – which have never been addressed.
And using the title: ‘Shithead’ Matt Whitman all-lives-matters Cornwallis panel” is a clear indication of the bias and disdain Jacob has for Whitman. Yes, he was labelled a shithead by another councillor but to use that as a moniker shows his prejudice. This is further worsened by the use of the phrase, “all-lives-matters”; Whitman didn’t use that phrase.
It would be lovely if The Coast would employ journalistic standards and ethics; the ones they learned at journalism school.
He’s right, look at the US they went from Confederate statues are racist to the national anthem is racist in no time.
This is neo-Marxism at work and they won’t stop until the history of the “problematic” group is erased.
This panel is simply a sham on the part of HRM. Four MicMac members mean the best anyone can hope for is a draw because there is no way any of them will vote to allow Cornwallis to stay. Throw in one of two sympathizers and the re-writers of history get their way. Why is it necessary to slant the membership in such a manner? Is HRM afraid that the majority will prevail in expressing their wishes and hence not allow the statue to be removed? It is shameful and the people of Halifax should strongly oppose this. Using Ms. Thomas as a counterpoint is hardly a good journalistic practice either – it is like having Karl Marx comment on capitalism. Finally, once again Mason shows the contempt he has for many of his fellow council colleagues. The smugness is not flattering.
Whitman posted online that he had to confront Mason before he apologized today. What a smug, superior arse Mason can be.
lol where are all these Marx referencing shitheads coming from? Oh trolls, I guess it’s hard to come up with something new or original when you barely leave your mom’s basement. When your refer to the indigenous people of this land as “micmac” you’re just showing your racism and clearly your opinion is not needed (as it’s already pretty evident.) So much “wah wah wah” from sad white men over statues of sad white men.
I’m curious. How will removing the statue be re-writing history? If only there were objects where the history of a place were written down so we didn’t need statues to remember people. Not to invoke Godwin’s Law but there are no statues of Hitler in Germany and yet *somehow* everyone there knows their history. Funny how that is, huh? Who knew you could remember someone without a statue to remind you.
As for Mason being ‘smug’ and showing ‘contempt…’ Whitman especially, and Adams deserve absolutely nothing less.
Relocate the Cornwallis statue to the band council lands at Shannon Park. Gift it to them and provide an honorarium for the band for employing interpretive signage and tours. Who even knew the damn thing was in front of the Nova Scotian?
The disproportionate number of dislikes to comments to the contrary is interesting.
I would encourage those who disagree with commenters to login and and state their differences rather than using the dislike button; I find that cowardly.