Someone threatened to burn Glooscap statue after Cornwallis memorial taken down
The same person who threatened a Halifax councillor for supporting the removal of the Cornwallis statue also threatened to burn down the Glooscap statue near Truro, according to documents obtained through a freedom-of-information request.
Coun. Shawn Cleary became a target of those who disagreed with his vote at the Jan. 31 meeting in Halifax. He eventually sent three messages he received to police, flagging them as possible threats.
"Tearing down history does not erase history you ... idiot and I am pushing for the burning of the Glooscap statue," the writer said in one of the messages. "Answer me you twit or when I come home to visit, I'll visit you."
Cleary said he felt the writer was threatening violence. Investigators contacted the message writer, who lives in Ontario, but said the comments did not constitute a criminal threat.
"It seemed that the person probably got the message that this was not appropriate behaviour," Cleary said in an interview later. "And it's a long drive [from Ontario] so hopefully there's second thoughts."
The messages are among the 1,100 documents that include any form of communication sent or received by the municipality connected to the statue's removal. They also include dozens of letters and emails to mayor and council.
'Glooscap statue will burn'
Halifax Regional Police said they did not pass on any information about the message regarding the Glooscap statue to the RCMP.
The band administrator for the Millbrook First Nation was initially unaware of the message, but later learned that staff at the Millbrook Heritage Centre knew about them and dismissed them as "idle threats."
There are surveillance cameras in the same area as the Glooscap statue, Alex Cope said.
The controversy
The Cornwallis statue, meanwhile, remains in storage after councillors voted 12-4 to remove the bronze memorial to the military officer who founded Halifax in 1749.
The vote followed increasing controversy over Cornwallis's so-called scalping proclamation that offered a cash bounty to anyone who killed a Mi'kmaw person.
