Gaudry, 2017 Canadian Social Studies - Vol 49 - No. 1 - Reset the classroom founding narrative

Oct 15, 2026

Examining a 2017 Ontario teachers’ federation motion to remove Sir John A. Macdonald’s name from schools, the article argues the controversy is less about displacing a “founder” and more about transforming how Canada’s imperial violence is taught. It frames “truthtelling” education as combining learning the other side with unlearning Indigenous-Canadian mythology. The analysis questions whether Macdonald-centered national identity provides moral guidance and notes the narrative’s relatively recent rise through centennial commemoration.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Classroom founding narrative and Macdonald

ETFO motion and Indigenous critiques

Transformative “truthtelling” education

Learning and unlearning historical mythology

Moral identity and the founding story’s rise

Gaudry, 2017 Canadian Social Studies, Volume 49, No. 1 Is elevating Sir John A. Macdonald really worth it? Hitting the reset button on Canada’s founding narrative in the classroom Adam Gaudry Department of Political Science Faculty of Arts / Faculty of Native Studies University of Alberta [adam.gaudry@ualberta.ca](adam.gaudry@ualberta.ca) In August 2017 , the Elementary Teacher’s Federation of Ontario (ETFO) passed a motion calling on the province to remove the name of Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, from all of Ontario’s schools (Nasser, 2017) . Building on years of criticism of Macdonald by Indigenous intellectuals, the ETFO’s motion is only the latest move to displace Macdonald in the Canadian nationalist mythos. To most Indigenous people (and to an ever-increasing number of Canadians) Macdonald is remembered chiefly for his horrors: Indian residential schools (Milloy, 1999) , the starvation policy on the plains (Daschuk, 2013) , the wholesale refusal to honour treaty relationships (Asch, 2014; Venne, 1997) , a violent military confrontation with three Indigenous communities in 1885 (Adams, 1989; Stonechild & Waiser, 1997) , and his longstanding goal of politically marginalizing (if not physically exterminating) Indigenous nations (Stanley, 2015) . Yet, while calling for the displacement of Macdonald, progressive voices have never actually sought to downplay Macdonald’s role in the formation of Canada. Instead, these voices seek to communicate Macdonald’s legacy in a more honest way by naming Canada’s first prime minister as the architect of many of Canada’s imperialistic structures, structures which are integral to Canada’s existence. Without the theft of Indigenous lands, without ignoring nation-to-nation treaty relations, and without the longstanding and often violent denial of on-going Indigenous self-determination, Canada would not be what it is today (Carleton, 2017) . The goal has never been to change the past, but to change the way people learn about it, and more fundamentally to end Canada’s multifaceted and ongoing colonization of Indigenous peoples. The point of the ETFO motion—and other demands like it—is not to displace Macdonald from his founding role, but to use him as an entry point for Canadians to understand the country’s legacy of imperial violence that has generated this unjust relationship between Canada and Indigenous nations, a relationship we are now all saddled with today. Transformative education is certainly one important way to achieve this end. Dakota scholar Waziyatawin (2008) advocates for a process of intellectual honesty she calls “truthtelling” education, ensuring learners understand that “what has passed for the truth may not be truthful after all”(p. 71). It is “the transformative potential of education” that posits “once people understand the truth, they will be compelled to act more justly”(Waziyatawin, 2008, p. 71) . In my experience, truth-telling has two components, the first of which involves learning new information—or in particular, the other side of the story. The second and more challenging part of this truth-telling education is unlearning what passes as the common- Gaudry, 2017 Canadian Social Studies, Volume 49, No. 1 sense history of Indigenous-Canadian relations. Simply adding in new information, or implying that “other voices need to be heard” without accounting for the historical and contemporary denial of Indigenous humanity is insufficient. Without a degree of unlearning, hearing “the other side” Macdonald’s story does little to transform the ways in which Canada continues to function as an imperial power. Therefore, learning about Macdonald and his impact on Indigenous nations also requires unlearning much of the mythology about him. In order to do so, it’s probably necessary for students to also understand whose interests are served if the celebration of Confederation through Macdonald is deemed to be more important than o

FAQs

What does the ETFO motion seek to change about Macdonald in schools?

It calls on Ontario to remove Macdonald’s name from schools. The article argues the deeper issue is how Canada’s imperial violence and Indigenous dispossession are represented in classroom learning.

How does the article define “truthtelling” transformative education?

It describes “truthtelling” as intellectual honesty that teaches learners what has passed for truth may not be truthful, and stresses that transformation requires more than hearing “the other side.”

Why does the article emphasize unlearning, not just adding new information?

Simply adding information or inviting other voices is insufficient if Indigenous humanity has historically been denied. The article argues that without unlearning the mythology, learning Macdonald’s impact will not change how Canada functions as an imperial power.

Oct 15, 2026

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