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Church-Wellesley BIA calls for removal of Alexander Wood statue Church-Wellesley BIA calls for removal of Alexander Wood statue Business leaders want the city to take down the statue of the local gay icon over his ties to a missionary school for Indigenous people By Kevin Ritchie The business improvement association in Toronto’s gay village wants the city to take down a statue of the historic figure considered the area’s founder “immediately and without hesitation.” In an open letter posted on social media on June 8, the Church-Wellesley Village BIA chair Christopher Hudspeth...

A business improvement area is demanding that Toronto remove a bronze statue in the city's gay village because it says it represents a man linked to an organization that created a residential school.

Article content Toronto Mayor John Tory says if the Church-Wellesley Village BIA want to remove a statue of Alexander Wood in the gay village because of his past link to residential schools for Indigenous children, they are free to do so. Speaking at his afternoon media briefing Wednesday, Tory said the CWVBIA asked for the statue’s installation in the first place and “largely” paid for it in 2005. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or Group calls on city to remove Alexander Wood statue from gay village Back to video But CWVBIA Chair Christop...

Published Wednesday, June 9, 2021 10:10AM EDT Members of Toronto’s Village neighbourhood are calling for the removal of a statue of a figure connected to the dark history of Canada’s residential school system. The Church-Wellesley Business Improvement Area (BIA) wants the city to help it remove a statue honouring Alexander Wood, which currently stands at the north-west corner of Alexander and Church streets. In a letter to Mayor John Tory, the BIA noted that Wood was a founding board member, and for many years the treasurer, of “The Society for Converting and Civilizin...