Canada statue of John A MacDonald toppled by activists in Montreal



Activists in Montreal have pulled down a statue of Canada's first prime minister Sir John A MacDonald, who was linked to cruel policies that killed many indigenous people in the late 19th Century.

Video captured the moment the statue's head flew off and bounced on the pavement nearby.

Quebec's head of government condemned it as "unacceptable".

"Destroying parts of our history is not the solution," said François Legault.

No arrests have been made, according to Canadian broadcaster CBC.

MacDonald was prime minister of Canada for 19 years in the 1860s-1890s and is remembered for his nation-building policies but he also created the residential schools system.

For more than a century the system forcibly removed at least 150,000 indigenous children from their homes and sent them to state-funded boarding schools. Many children were abused and some died, and they were were forbidden from speaking their own language or practising their culture.

A government report in 2015 called the practice "cultural genocide".

He was accused of allowing famine and disease to kill many indigenous people and his government forced some First Nation communities to leave their traditional territories, withholding food until they did so.

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