Lynn McDonald, Op/Ed –
They are still at it: more false accusations against Egerton Ryerson. A story I wrote for the bridge (April 2023) pointed out misinformation promulgated by the administration of what was then Ryerson University – or “disinformation,” deliberately false statements; lies as opposed to inadequate research.
An advocacy group, “Friends of Egerton Ryerson,” have sent numerous letters and petitions to no avail to Dr. Mohamed Lachemi, president of what’s now Toronto Metropolitan University. The plaque he unveiled in 2018, at the southern edge of the campus on Gould Street, is still there. It was supposed to “contextualize” Ryerson, but in fact upped the accusations.
It said he was “instrumental in the design and implementation of the Canadian residential school system,” when he neither advocated or planned any of these harmful schools. He supported, rather, the voluntary day schools (English and Ojibwe) that parents and Indigenous leaders wanted.
In late 2024 Parks Canada, with advice from the federal Historic Sites and Monuments Board, removed the pro-Ryerson historic plaque it had erected in 1934. We taxpayers paid for that as well as the fallacious plaque at TMU.
The fine bronze statue of Ryerson that was placed on Gould Street, unveiled on May 24, 1889, was paid for by voluntary contributions after his death in 1882. In 2021 it was painted over, toppled and beheaded, with the head thrown into Lake Ontario.
A later photograph shows the recovered head stuck on a pike in Caledon. The statue’s body is still missing. Sadly, the university did nothing to safeguard the statue — or to correct the disinformation that spurred the vandalism.
Friends of Egerton Ryerson called on the provincial heritage minister to see that both parts of the statue were found and repaired together. The restored statue should not go to TMU, which does not deserve it. Its toppling and beheading are part of Toronto’s sorry history now, so it should be placed where people can learn from it. One can imagine the Royal Ontario Museum putting on an exhibition that displays these various events.
In time the statue should be placed in Queen’s Park. Pending that, if there is still fear of vandalism, the Toronto Reference Library on Yonge Street north of Bloor would be a fine choice. It would be appropriate given Ryerson’s promotion of free public libraries.
Few people know how revolutionary Ryerson’s ideas were when he advocated free elementary schooling for all: few children then went to school, all schools were fee-paying, and no teachers were trained. Upper Canada (Ontario) led the way, with the maritime provinces soon following; later the western provinces also provided free schools with trained teachers.
The keenest denouncers make much of Ryerson being a “colonizer.” A sign attached to his statue, when it was still up, said “Go Home, Back Where U Came From!” But Ryerson was born in Ontario (then Upper Canada) on a farm north of Lake Erie, near Long Point.
Lynn McDonald, CM, PhD, fellow, Royal Historical Society, former MP, member and co-founder of Friends of Egerton Ryerson
