Statue of Edward Cornwallis

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Statue of Edward Cornwallis

The Statue of Edward Cornwallis was a bronze sculpture of the British military and political leader Edward Cornwallis on a tall granite pedestal. It stood in Halifax, Nova Scotia, across from the Canadian National Railway station. The statue, created by J. Massey Rhind, was unveiled on June 22, 1931. It stood in Cornwallis Park, a public space funded in large part by the Canadian National Railway, and the statue measured about 9 feet high on a 10-foot pedestal.

Who Cornwallis was and what the statue commemorated
- Edward Cornwallis was the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1749 to 1752 and helped establish Halifax in 1749.
- The statue celebrated Cornwallis as the founder of Halifax and as a symbol of British rule and order.
- The Cornwallis Memorial Committee raised funds in the 1920s to honor him and to promote tourism.

Why the statue has been controversial
- Since the 1980s, the statue has been a focus of debate because many Mi’kmaq people and others view Cornwallis as a symbol of colonial domination and violence against Indigenous people.
- Supporters argued the statue reflected local history and the city’s founding, while critics said it celebrated a conquest and the mistreatment of Indigenous communities.
- Historians have described the statue as a product of its time, reflecting imperialist ideas and a particular way of publicly remembering the past.

Changes and removal
- In 2017, after public protests, Halifax’s city government moved to reexamine how Cornwallis was commemorated.
- On July 1, 2017, a mourning ceremony at the statue site drew attention to Indigenous histories and concerns.
- On July 15, 2017, protesters arrived to remove the statue; city workers shrouded the statue for safety.
- On January 31, 2018, Halifax City Council voted to move the statue and its pedestal into storage.

What happened after removal
- In 2021, the site and surrounding space were renamed: Cornwallis Park became Peace and Friendship Park, and Cornwallis Street was renamed Nora Bernard Street.
- A joint Halifax-Mi’kmaw task force recommended creating a civic museum, keeping the Cornwallis statue in storage until that museum was established, and redesigning the park to serve as a space for Indigenous history and culture.
- In 2020, Halifax Council voted to accept these recommendations and to proceed with the renaming and planning. The statue remains in storage as part of these changes.

Overall, the statue's history reflects a broader conversation about how communities remember the past and whose stories are given prominence in public spaces.