(06-30-2021, 08:34 PM)jeffster Wrote: I am almost certain City Hall still has a huge picture of him on the 2nd floor by the rotunda, towards the entrance for councillors and mayor. It was there last time I was at city hall (maybe 2 years ago).
Well that's a shame. I know there was a petition launched in 2020 to rename the city because of his past. It is actually included in the Wikipedia article, with a response from the City of Kitchener quoted as "While we in no way condone, diminish or forget his actions ... Kitchener has become so much more than its historic connection to a British field marshal." Fair, we don't need to rename ourselves because we have, in a sense, appropriated that name for ourselves (even if it came from him).
I would definitely support the removal of any portraits of him hanging in city hall or any other offices in the city, however. I don't know if city hall is yet open to the public or not but if anyone knows, please let me know, I'll go in and check to see if there is a portrait when I'm downtown again. I'd support having that removed at the very least. Surely sensible people would be willing to support such a motion, with the exception of people that think concentration camps are okay. Then again the city might just put out some statement similar to that one quoted above. "While we in no way condone, diminish or forget his actions ... we think it's still appropriate to immortalize him in a giant portrait in our main government building."
Edit: City Hall is only open for appointments only as we're stuck in Phase 1. Once it opens up, I'll go check it out and see if his portrait is there. If it is, I'd be willing to send some letters and attempt to start a petition to get it removed. I have a lot of connections across the region with organizations and groups (especially students and BIPOC organizations) that would likely support the removal of any portraits of this monster. I could probably get more than the 380 signatures that were on the petition to rename Kitchener.