Vancouver Police confirmed that no arrests have been made after the toppling and vandalizing of a statue of John Deighton, better known as “Gassy Jack,” on Feb. 14. They said in a statement that the incident took place during the annual Women’s Memorial March. An investigation is ongoing and no injuries were reported.
Demonstrators in the march tied ropes around the statue, dragged it down to the ground, and then smeared it in red paint.
Deighton was a saloon owner and riverboat captain in the 1800s. At the age of 40, he married a 12-year-old indigenous girl. He is considered by many to be the founding father of Vancouver.The removal of the statue was already in the works between the Squamish Nation and the City of Vancouver.
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart wrote in a tweet that Deighton had a “harmful legacy.” But he also condemned the actions of the vandals.
“Today’s actions were dangerous & undermines ongoing work with Squamish to guide steps to #reconciliation.”
The City of Vancouver wrote on Twitter that it “understands that the Gassy Jack statue is a symbol of pain, violence, and trauma associated with colonialism and violence against Indigenous women and girls.”
The statue used to stand at Carrall and Water streets at the edge of the Gastown neighbourhood in Vancouver.
“We stand in support of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression but do not condone vandalism of any kind,” the City of Vancouver wrote.
In 2021 in Hamilton, the statue of Canada’s first Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald was similarly toppled and vandalized.
