Queen Victoria statue community engagement paused as Kitchener reassesses next steps

The City of Kitchener says it will temporarily pauseits community consultations into the fate of the Queen Victoria statue in Victoria Park andreassess how to move forward.

The statue has been a source of contention in the community. Red paint has been thrown on the statue, which is similar to other statues across Canada that have beentargetedfor their connections with colonialismand its impacts on Indigenous and racialized communities.

Justin Readman, the city's general manager of development services, noted the city isn't cancelling public engagement.

"Although equity-driven placemaking and planning work is not a straight path, we are committed to learning and moving forward in alignment with the city's vision and strategic plan," Readman said in the release.

The city asked Jay Pitter, an urban planning expert and placemaker, to lead community consultations in the last few months of 2022. The city said in a news release on Monday afternoon that those sessions "provided invaluable advice" to city staff on what approach is needed to move forward with the discussions around the statue.

The city's release said they'll follow Pitter's advice and so "the next phase of the project will move more slowly and be led by localcommunity engagement facilitators."

"As has been committed to throughout the project, the city will continue to centre the voices of Indigenous, Black and racialized community members throughout the engagement process," the city said.