Crowd topples Queen Victoria monument at Manitoba Legislature

Members of a crowd protesting Canada’s handling of the fallout of the residential school system have pulled down a statue of Queen Victoria in front of the Manitoba’s legislative building in Winnipeg.

The grounds were the destination of an Every Child Matters walk on Thursday. The statue was seen covered in red painted handprints. A sign saying “We were children once. Bring them home” was left leaning on the statue’s pedestal. 

Dozens of people, many wearing orange shirts in memory of Indigenous children sent to residential schools, surrounded the monument. Some of them wrapped it in ropes and pulled it off its base.

A statue of Queen Elizabeth II, located on the east side of the legislative grounds, was also toppled. (Marina von Stackelberg/CBC )

The statue, first unveiled in 1904, was left covered with a Canadian flag which had been written over with black marker with the words “we were children.” 

A smaller statue of Queen Elizabeth II was also toppled on the east side of the grounds and was left covered in yellow rope. 

The toppling of the statues comes on a Canada Day in which thousands took to the city’s streets to honour victims and survivors of residential schools. 

CBC has requested comment from Winnipeg police and the province. 

WATCH | Statue of Queen Victoria toppled at Manitoba Legislature:

Members of a crowd pulled the statue down on Thursday afternoon. (Courtesy Belinda Vandenbroeck) 1:27

More to come.