City councillor will push for the removal of Hamilton's Sir John A. Macdonald statue

Hamilton city councillor Nrinder Nann (Ward 3) will move a motion next week for the city to remove a statue of Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, from Gore Park.

The motion is included on the agenda for the July 8 meeting of the emergency and community services committee.

Earlier this week, the Gore Park statue was covered in red paint, but quickly washed off.

The statue had been previously painted red and also recently spent three days covered with black fabric, wrapped in protest.

Macdonald's government introduced residential schools in 1883 to remove Indigenous children from their families and prevent them from growing up amid "savages," as Macdonald was recorded as saying in the House of Commons.

The city has said it doesn't plan to remove the statue.

Nann will also move a motion to remove the name Ryerson from the recreation centre at 251 Duke St.

Egerton Ryerson is considered one of the primary architects of Canada's residential school system.

In recent years, staff and students have been calling for the removal of his statue from the Toronto university bearing his name, and for the university to change its name.

Last month, the university said the statue that stood outside the university "will not be restored or replaced," after it was toppled following a demonstration in Toronto.