Downing Street has condemned the toppling of a statue of the Queen during protests in Canada over the discovery of unmarked graves of indigenous children.
A prominent statue of Queen Victoria and a statue of Queen Elizabeth II was torn down by protesters in Winnipeg.
Over 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend state-funded Christian boarding schools in what was seen as a bid to assimilate them into Canadian society.
An estimated 6,000 children died while attending these schools, some of disease and other causes, with many never returned to their families.
The incident took place on Canada Day, an annual celebration on 1 July that marks the country's founding by British colonies in 1867. Following the discovery of the indigenous Canadian graves at residential schools, calls had been placed to cancel all national celebrations.
A No 10 spokesman condemned the toppling saying: “We obviously condemn any defacing of statues of the Queen.
“Our thoughts are with Canada’s indigenous community following these tragic discoveries and we follow these issues closely and continue to engage with the government of Canada with indigenous matters.”
Demonstrators toppled statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth in Winnipeg this afternoon during rallies honouring the children discovered in unmarked graves on the sites of former residential schools over the past month. pic.twitter.com/Zx0aqPGcOW
— APTN News (@APTNNews) July 2, 2021
Statues of figures involved with residential schools have been vandalised or removed.
At the protest in Winnipeg, the statue of Queen Victoria was daubed in red paint while a sign saying "we were children" was left nearby.
A protestor, Belinda Vandenbroeck told CBC she felt no remorse about the toppling of the statue, which she had had no part in.
"She [Queen Victoria] means nothing to me except that her policies and her colonialism is what is dictating us right to this minute as you and I speak."
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