Statue of Canada residential schools architect toppled in Toronto

Egerton Ryerson statue toppled after demonstration about discovery of 215 Indigenous children’s remains at residential school.

A statue of one of the architects of Canada’s residential schools system has been toppled and will not be replaced, the president of Toronto’s Ryerson University said, after protesters rallied to honour the 215 Indigenous children whose remains were found at a former school. Hundreds of people demonstrated in Toronto on Sunday to commemorate and demand justice for the children discovered at Kamloops Indian Residential School in the western province of British Columbia late last month. A statue of Egerton Ryerson, who helped set up the residential school system that saw more than 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children separated from their families and forced to attend church-run boarding schools, was torn down.