The King of Queen's Park

A story about how an imperial statue from halfway around the world ended up in the middle of downtown Toronto.
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*A VERSION WITH DESCRIBED VIDEO CAN BE FOUND HERE: goo.gl/zSJg9m
Closed Captioning and Described Video provided by Described Video Canada.
A Toronto Star Article about Queen's Park's various statues and the contradictory nature of historical figures-featuring our host Adam Bunch: goo.gl/rpqXfj
A Torontoist article that goes further into the history of the King Edward VII statue and its relationship to Toronto: goo.gl/BKw24j
The two massacres we refer to are the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919) and the Qissa Khwani Bazaar Massacre (1930).
"The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919 when troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer fired rifles into a crowd of Indians, who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab. The civilians had assembled to condemn the arrest and deportation of two national leaders, Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew. There has been much debate over whether the crowd knew of the proclamation Dyer had made banning meetings, in its supposed inefficacy, however, Raja Ram has argued that the crowd formed in deliberate defiance, being the beginning of Indian nationalism." goo.gl/Qkm9KJ
"The massacre at the Qissa Khwani Bazaar in Peshawar, British India (modern day Pakistan) on 23 April 1930 was one of the defining moments of the independence movement in British India. It was the first major confrontation between British troops and demonstrators in the city. Estimates at the time put the death toll from the shooting at between the official count at 20, and the figure of 400 dead put forth by Pakistani and Indian sources. The gunning down of unarmed people triggered protests across British India and catapulted the newly formed Khudai Khidmatgar movement into prominence." goo.gl/qerHso
Extra trivia:
- Altogether there are ten monuments of historical figures in Queen's Park.
- King Edward VII laid the symbolic foundation stone for his own mother's statue (Queen Victoria). At the time he was still a Prince.
- Every year, during the University of Toronto's Frosh Week, Engineering students paint Kildare's testicles red. The tradition definitely goes back to the 1980s, and might go further. You can see it in some of the footage in this episode. (We don't know where the sticker on King Eddy's head came from or what its purpose is.)

[@HabsFan__-]

This channel deserves a lot more subscribers this top quality stuff

[@D-Mny]

For real, the production quality is so high. I was surprised when I saw how many subscribers there were and how many views the videos had.

[@JosephKulik2016]

As an American, what impresses me most is what BALLS this guy has !!! He is certainly a Very Brave Man for the way that he challenges the Establishment view of Canadian history. This guy doesn't EVER care about making Canada "look good". All he cares about is the TRUTH. He is very brave because doing this series has undoubtedly closed many doors in Canadian society to him forever. He should definitely run for political office as a maverick candidate. I'm sure that he would really Kick Butt in Ottawa. I sure wish that he would come to America and run for political office here. We sure could use a Good Man like him right now. ... [e-mail]

[@JosephKulik2016]

That's why this channel has so few subscribers --- Most Canadians don't want to hear the Ugly Truths about their own nation. It's no different here in America. For many citizens of all nations, "Ignorance is bliss !!!" when it comes to wanting to hear the real truth about their national history. ... [e-mail]

[@larentedavid]

In time this channel will be popular. What a great discovery. Thank you!

[@LiaLoredoPaz]

Love the way they edit the video. I'm not from North America, but still, I admire history from other countries.

[@mariolongtin8271]

I didn't expect that twist haha

[@shinnith]

"one more statue of a dead white dude" OMFGGG

[@Canadiana]

This was one of the first videos we ever shot. We point this phrasing out in the description--poor wording.

[@poijupoij]

@@Canadiana Disrespectful wording. Edit it then! And no I don't wonder why we have statues of our kings and queens in our country. Hipster dufuss.

[@George_Washington185]

@@Canadianano it was just witty and hilarious truly appreciated!. Thank you for the insight

[@KainaCanada]

The best channel i have ever seen! I love it. Looking forward for more videos. Keep up the good work

[@BecauseCanada]

I went to UofT and passed this statue daily. It's a tradition for Engineers to rub the testicles of the horse for good luck. The horse's "area" is well worn.

[@casualworldchatcommunity5187]

Been waiting so long for another video. So glad you posted :)

[@davidjdreid6285]

He just loved statues!

[@stushShulamite]

I love this channel. My donation is coming...

[@NatoBro]

That was quite interesting. The statue of Sir John A. is currently boxed up so to speak, since it was attacked and vandalized after the graves of students from the former residential schools were found a few years ago. I'm not sure what the province plans to do with it.

[@marklittle8805]

Never mind the biggest proponent of Residential schools was Laurier. No one objected to the schools but the natives themselves. Laurier massively expanded the program. I bet if he was a Conservative he would have been criticised. Instead people look past him to nail McDonald who was doing what EVERYONE at that time thought was appropriate. Educating natives was seen as noble. It would have been had they allowed them to learn in the language and live at home....

[@shivercanada]

Perfection!

[@Vilsoncunha061017]

Hi, I am from brazil, and I am learning a litle about canada,

[@CaptApril123]

That was fascinating..pass by those statues all the time.

[@George_Washington185]

What’s so great about the horse??. Such a cliffhanger, get more in depth about it lol I get the idea but still for individuals that aren’t so sharp detail would be nice just my personal opinion. I truly enjoyed the video

[@RyanStonedonCanadianGaming]

I sat under King Edward's statue wearing camouflage as a stand to legalize marijuana. I had people take pictures of me and one thing I didn't realize... I was sat under a very nice horse riden by a king. 😆 Well, now I know that's King Edward VII, now it makes me wonder if maybe my message was stronger then I thought.

[@osmia]

Great horse

[@sirroi3310]

Looks like my relative's exactly

[@a.hoctavius5848]

No I do not wonder why we have statues to our kings and queens ..... I am fully aware of our British and Loyalist roots. I am not ashamed of our past.

[@poijupoij]

Darn right me either!

[@alonsom1988]

The way it should be! The British Empire and its culture produced many of the greatest countries on Earth.

[@rhysmcrae4504]

Try to be a little less bias

[@k.n.v.b1113]

Gresat stuff guys ! Amazing

[@andywood5699]

Maybe we should just have statues of animals

[@TheGundameister]

More statues of Winnipeg the bear please.

[@danielmarsala849]

How do you know he's white if the statue is grey-duh?

[@resistencialiberal9555]

What you described around minute happened in about every country of the era. Even the USA had similar things happened when there were protest.

[@JoaoSousarocks]

Dude! You didn't talk about the balls!

[@onemore6163]

Good made documentary...as usual...👍🐴

[@TrappedinSLC]

Okay that dude's statue standards are the same as my own - good horse, who cares about the person. We can even take the person off, I'm good with that.

[@jonmce1]

While many of these videos are informative and interesting but the simplistic takes on history take away from it. Yes most of the statues if not all are of whites that is because by far it was whiles established this country. Blacks and others with the exception of Indians fighting in the War of 1812 have played a relatively minor part of our history partly because of discrimination and partly because they were a very small part of the population. And no, based on modern ethics do these people meet the standards of purity required by some. In addition some of this is simply a lie. McDonald can be accused of many things a drunk, corrupt and he did not feed the Indians when they were starving. He did not starve them, they were starving because their culture depended on the buffalo (a cultural tradition by the way that was only about 150 years old and many of the tribes were relatively late arrivals) they starved because mostly American hunters along with diseases spread from cattle along with the hunting activity of the Indians. So what if he fed them the year of starvation which he was having trouble justifying because the country was in a depression. What would happen the next year and the next and next. The buffalo were not coming back. So he and most others believed the Indians could adopt farming. Obviously a massive cultural leap from the Neolithic to the late 1800s period that was unrealistic. With all his faults he was the one that without whom one of the best countries in the world would very likely not have been created. He was also the one who in the 1880s tried to get the women the vote. The same people who push the genocide lie then take others as heroes starting with Riel a nut who accomplished very little, caused a lot of people to get killed, thought he had visions and had a man murdered. This fellow was no hero he did represent a faction of French Metis, not not English Metis or other inhabitants. Take Big Bear a Cree leader I have some admiration for. He started the battle of Belly Creek against the Blackfoot where up 500 people died far worse than anything MacDonald ever did. Get facts right, not just the agenda of advocates. Regarding Queen Victoria, the British did unify India in a single empire essentially taking over from another foreign empire the Moguls. Their empire was no worse than others which for by modern values is not saying much but was normal for the period. On the other hand it was that same empire that destroyed slavery a form of oppression practiced by almost every society in the world at the time. Remember Africans were not enslaved by Europeans they were enslaved by other minus

[@thesage1096]

so savage

[@geoffreylee5199]

Interesting inclusion of revisionism.

[@waynemullally6423]

Yes, what did the British ever do for us? Perhaps a re-viewing of the life Brian is in order. Long before the British put India on the road to becoming the largest democracy in the world, with sometimes misguided sweat and blood of their own, people of the region were killing each other in the tens of millions. Apart from making filthy lucre they were trying to sort things out. Maybe a little Rudyard Kipling would help. Hindi was his first language. To make that stupid statue an excuse for some kind of post colonialist apology rant is a disservice to history to say nothing of king fucking George. I treasure every person here from there or anywhere else they have come. As have I, if the natives let us stay. Together we stand on the dead bodies of our misguided forebears and we are headed for the future. Hang on

[@sirroi3310]

King 8

[@sirroi3310]

I'm 9

[@mobileoppressionpalace6728]

If decolonization is so good and colonialism was so evil, why do people from formerly colonized countries move in droves to the lands of their former colonizers?

[@gordingram4375]

Hahahahaha

[@brady157]

Can you avoid the immature moralizing? I come for history if I wanted moral lessons I'd go on sundays.

[@Canadiana]

See the reply to The Great Walrus' comment. This is the story of a statue tied to a specific set of events/circumstances that traveled a circuitous route to land in Toronto in the middle of the 1960s. We aren't speaking about morals here. We made a bad choice in word use that is easily misinterpreted and it has had the unfortunate side effect of irking people-the rest is literally history. We fumbled our intention to introduce the context of general apathy toward some of the monuments in the city-our mission was to replace disinterest with the intriguing story hidden behind one of the many different statues that dot Queen's Park. Everything falls into an grey area in our minds. We hoped it would be an episode that would make people stop and consider the historic weight behind such things. We hope you enjoy the other episodes.

[@poijupoij]

@@Canadiana why would it even occur to you to say it? Trend?

[@alonsom1988]

The woke comments ruin the video, completely unnecessary.

[@lukeamato423]

You're dumb

[@lukeamato423]

You don't like it you put your head back where it came from...your arse

[@resistencialiberal9555]

Let's not forget that India wasn't heaven before the British. The caste system which is still strong today. India looks very impressive, but it is a very poor ccountry. Excusing everything on foreigners is a good way to excuse the corruptions of the current governments of such country as India and Pakistan.

[@zshanez4610]

You are brainwashed by the western media my dear friend!

[@resistencialiberal9555]

@@zshanez4610 you don't like the west ? Move back to Asia, friend.

[@zshanez4610]

@@resistencialiberal9555 change your perspective dude. That's what I am saying.

[@zshanez4610]

@@cathyvanasse4886 again a fake propaganda by BBC. India is by far most peaceful country . Everybody respects every belief. Whatever you are seeing in the west is just to derail India's progress and image that's it. If you can take it , take it well otherwise GTFO!

[@resistencialiberal9555]

@@zshanez4610 you guys been moving to the west and have babies like your life depends on it. Lol have your babies in Indian, stay in India if you hate us so much.

[@karenpeck8525]