The Town of Huntsville has been chosen by the Consulate General of India to receive a bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi as a gesture of peace and cultural diplomacy.
The majority of councillors voted in favour of adding the bronze to the Town’s art inventory, which is planned to be erected on the west side of the Civic Centre beside Town Hall.
Jacqueline Surette, Manager of Recreation, Culture and Heritage, told council at its Nov. 24 meeting that earlier this year, a delegation of high-ranking diplomats from the Consulate General of India, along with leaders from Huntsville’s local Indian community, met with Town representatives to discuss the opportunity. The Town would be the recipient of one of two bronze statues of Gandhi, to be commissioned by the consulate specifically for the purpose of donating them.
She said staff struck a jury of subject experts from the community, made up of the Huntsville Arts Society, Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown BIA, and Muskoka Arts and Crafts to review the donation. The group recommended its acceptance. She said the jury saw the donation as a tribute to the municipality’s leadership, openness, and respect for multiculturalism and diversity. There would be no cost for the Town to acquire the donation outside of regular maintenance and possible vandalism. She also noted that bronze is a resilient medium, which is why it is widely used for outdoor art installations.
Councillor Cory Clarke said he was concerned that by accepting the donation, the Town could see more requests to erect statues, “and I’m not sure that our residents want to see multiple statues throughout Huntsville and in the end I guess my concern really is we’ll be responsible for them as a Town and we will have to insure them with taxpayer money, so that’s my concern.”
Councillor Bob Stone referred to the gift as unique. He said it reminded him of cities in Europe with many art pieces to look at. “I love it,” he added.
“I know what it represents and what some constituents might think, but it’s an art donation no different than a painting, or a bear of Tom Thomson’s. I think it’s great. I really hope this location works out…,” said Deputy Mayor Dan Armour, adding that he looks forward to seeing it installed.
Councillor Helena Renwick said Gandhi “has a universal message of peace and compassion, and that aligns perfectly with our existing commitments of our commitment rock, which is already there in our little garden, and the upcoming Unity Circle. So together these works tell a powerful story of reconciliation and shared human values.”
Renwick said the only thing she was reticent about was that during further reading about the figure of Gandhi, she found he is a bit of a controversial subject, “and I’m not going to change my mind about accepting the donation, but I want council and us as a body of people making a decision to know that there is controversy around Gandhi, that he had certain views that some people now do not agree with, in regard to the cast system, in regard to statements that he made about South Africa, so I’m saying that but I like what you said… Deputy Mayor Armour, that this is an art installation and we’d like to keep the politics out of it, but it will come…,” said Renwick, who urged her fellow councillors to accept the donation.
Huntsville Mayor Nancy Alcock agreed, “You are absolutely right, like so many well-known people in our communities and internationally, they’re not without some blemishes, for sure, but this is somebody who the people that we met, from the Consul General of India, hold with high regard and it’s a gesture to the Town of Huntsville to say, ‘we value this town that’s embraced our community’… It’s a gesture of tremendous goodwill, and I think that really coincides with everything we have in our strategic plan as to who we think we are.”
Councillor Dione Schumacher said she believes the controversy surrounding Gandhi was early on in his life, “and we’ve all kind of made some mistakes, I think sometimes at the beginning of our lives that we would maybe apologize for when we were younger for things we said.” She said Gandhi is generally known for his message of peace and inclusivity. “I think that’s the main thing I would like to get across here in Huntsville. I know we’ve had a couple of maybe not so great marks on us in the last couple of summers with populations and things that have happened,” she said, referring to a visiting MPP and his family being attacked with racial slurs. “I think we need to be embracing [the] inclusive community that we are and that Huntsville is, and I think this would be a good poignant part of that…”
In the end, all councillors, with the exception of Clarke, voted in favour of accepting the gift.
You can find the report from municipal staff HERE.
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Rather than a statue of Ghandi placed next to the town hall, why not a statue of Jack Bionda with a lacrosse stick or Jim Bishop? Jack Bionda, who played professional lacrosse and professional NHL hockey was always willing to promote the sport of lacrosse. Jack is a member of 7 Sport Halls of Fame including:
Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1974)
Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (1982)
Oregon Sports Hall of Fame (1990)
Huntsville Sports Hall of Fame (1991, inaugural year)
B.C. Sports Hall of Fame (1998)
Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame (2000, as part of the 1955 Mann Cup champion team)
Ontario Sports Hall of Fame (2018)
Jim Bishop, founded the Huntsville Minor Lacrosse Association in 1957 and took many of the young Huntsville lacrosse players to the Oshawa Junior A Green Gales, where they won 7 consecutive Minto Cup championships. In 1997 he won his 8th Minto Cup as a coach. Jim Bishop was also awarded the Lester B. Pearson Award from the Canadian Lacrosse Association for excellence in lacrosse. In 1969 he was inducted into both the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
If a statue is going to be erected in the town, it should be for people who contributed to the town.
Wilf McQuinn
We continue to drive wedges between folks of different backgrounds and cultures by paying special attention to one special interest group, in this case India. Special flags, special statues, special days or special attention to one group or body only breeds division among people. When will local government and leaders start understanding that fundamental concept. Public money and effort should be as vanilla as it can be.
I also agree with another commenter who mentioned a total lack of relevance to our area.
Gandhi has become through rose coloured glasses and more so as time goes by a world leader of peace for all. Actually he was a leader for the Hindi people of India almost exclusively, he wrote how he believed Christians were hypocrites and dragged his wife out of their house by the wrists on to the street after an argument.
Our town should not be supporting this “gift”. This is not art, it’s a symbol of specific religious beliefs. It’s a NO for me and many many others.
I can think of literally dozens of people more worthy of a statue in Huntsville than Ghandi. While he was highly regarded and did immense good, he has absolutely no relevance to Muskoka.
While one may deem the donation of the statue as very generous, I suggest that there are other places in Canada that are more obvious recipients of the “generosity”.
Please reconsider the gift of the statue.
Reading councillor Stone’s comment about not wanting to ‘pander to those with views of hate, prejudice and bigotry which have no place here’ reminds me of something right out of a MAGA playbook – “The best defense is a good deflective offense”. This is best exampled by labelling critics of the genocide in Gaza by Israel as being anti-semitic. Being disgusted by pictures of dead children has nothing to do with liking or disliking Jews. Not being enthralled about a statue that has absolutely no connection to Huntsville whatsoever doesn’t make people prejudiced bigots. It makes them thoughtful people that don’t fall for possible scams. As I texted to Grant last week (kind of tongue-in-cheek), this statue is India’s analog way of introducing malware into Huntsville’s culture. I sure hope not, but I fear that, this story is going to surface on Barrie news one night and bring us some unintended fame. And I’m not talking about the humourous fame that Orillia’s Christmas tree debacle from 2 years ago did.
As a Councillor you never know what decisions will draw great opposition or controversy and I am here to serve the people, both the silent majority and the vocal minority. However, I will not pander to those with views of hate, prejudice and bigotry which have no place here. This gift of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi has brought many more people than usual to reach out to me in opposition.
I originally voted in favour of this statue because Gandhi is a global symbol of non-violent struggle for peace, humility and compassion. His life inspired other great men such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. I want Huntsville to be known as a welcoming, caring, inclusive and fun place to live or visit. It’s good for our economy and good for the soul.
I don’t deny that he was a flawed human being and suggest that he would have agreed. I will leave the judgment of the man to each individual researcher. As with the controversy around Sir John A. MacDonald, I believe that adding more information to the monument is better than removing it.
Given the wide range of people that I represent, who have reached out to me in opposition, I intend to support a review and potential reversal of this decision.
Just an idea, but could consideration be given to have the Krishna Cultural Centre ( previously the movie theatre ) place the statue in the foyer of their restaurant/temple, and funded by private donations?
This has to be the most tone-deaf thing that nobody asked for.
Ghandi was a known misogynist, racist and would sleep with under aged girls to ‘prove his masculinity.’ This is an acknowledged fact. What a disgusting excuse for a human being.
This town is really bending over backwards to a culture that has nothing to do with the history of Huntsville – why?
Absolutely ridiculous and perhaps it’s time to revisit the sitting members of town council – they don’t seem to have the residents of Huntsville in mind with this decision.
If this statute does go up, hopefully it won’t be around long. Unbelievable.
Perhaps, some one should initiate a Petition and present it the council. I think this is the way to go.
I echo Kathy Hunter’s idea: Council, take it to the people just like was done with the ill-gated “Tom”. That’s democracy in action. You speak for us not instead of us.
Obviously our town council is totally out of touch with the real world! Why on earth would they accept another liability for the good citizens of Huntsville to erect a tribute to a known racist while all over statues of builders of our country are being removed because of their dubious history with racism!
I for one don’t want to foot the bill for the erection and care from vandalism of said so called art work!
Councillors learn to say thanks but no thanks!
Wow, council members must not get out much. Have you spoken with any residents of this community lately? No one wants this!! If Nancy Alcock chooses to look past Ghandi’s history of blatant racism and sexual abuse of female minors- that’s Nancy’s choice. I don’t think her personal beliefs should be imposed on the rest of the community who feel differently. Town council shouldn’t be approving of such a divisive and controversial statue to be placed in front of our town hall without the approval of residents.
Also if Dan Armour doesn’t recognize the difference between a controversial political symbol and a painting of a bear- that is a problem.
Thank goodness 2026 is an election year. Let us all remember what councillors were willing to stand up for the people of this town and our history- and vote out all those who are not.
Maybe it could be put at the flag park. It’s kind of a useless piece of land. And install an information plague about why Ghandi was an important historical figure. Maybe?
This does not encourage peace- it breeds resentment. If the Consul General of India wants to improve relationships in this town- maybe they could encourage Indian residents and business owners to attend remembrance day ceremonies, start sponsoring local charities or sports teams, throw up some Christmas lights, walk in the Santa clause parade. Start by embracing this community rather than trying to change it or imposing your own political beliefs and idols on us.
I feel that a statues of Ghandi should be erected in the country where he lived as it should be with other influential individuals. We should be erecting monuments to local influential people or at least Canadians.
However I am more concerned with the “black eye” our town will receive after the statue is vandalized, which we all know will happen. We had the River Mill Park washrooms vandalized and had Tom Thompson’s pipe stolen, so do we really think it will not happen to Ghandi
Knowing our council, it would be placed in River Mill Park next to the washrooms. Oh, a plinth would have to be built to stand it on and underground electric cable from.the furthest connection point so that its flood light to prevent vandalism. Not too costly.
The non-existent statue of Captain George Hunt just became more conspicuous by its absence
If town council members believe this “gift” is an “art installation” then maybe they do not have the IQ required to represent the people of this town.
Why do we need a Gandhi statue in Huntsville ?
Is it because of the influx of east Indians making our town their new home ?
Nobody in Huntsville got consulted about this, but council in their wisdom decided to ram it down our throats anyway , more flip flops are coming!
It’s imperative that we celebrate OUR history and heritage. No where is this more important than the space in and around our government and civic buildings.
While we take down statues of our founding fathers, we raise statues to foreign political activists. Truly bizarre behaviour.
This rudderless, shambolic council has stepped in it yet again with their lack of backbone and desire to be 100% politically correct at all times. Its inability to say no to staff when staff make silly recommendations like this is troubling. Why even have a council? Let the bureaucrats govern us.
A feckless council afraid of offending anyone. If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for everything. And they’ve fallen for this barely veiled effort by “high ranking” officials (i.e. intelligence agents) in the Indian government to exert influence on us unsuspecting woke, rubes.
Reverse this decision and honour someone from our town, region, country in that space instead.
(Hats off to Cory Clarke. The only one with a backbone.)
The report says the staff “struck a jury of subject experts” so I accept that to be the fact. But if I were to say to this jury the bust on offer was to be that of Sir John A. Macdonald, the reaction would have been an incredulous “No Way!!” Lots of reason why not.
Or a statue of Tiofilo Stevenson. Who? Why? (Hell of a boxer). But for sure another NO!
Marshal Tito would have been dismissed as just another dictator.
Myself, I’m not much into statues.
But of a sudden, this jury is offered a statue of Gandhi. Gandhi! Surely said jury can look up everything that has been looked up or is known by the general population. Read the comments. He cobbled together a nation. Granted. But he was no hero in other aspects. And God knows our heroes have to be impeccable.
So why is this jury and subsequently our council like deer in the headlights when offered this statue? Ooooh! Gandhi!!.
Somebody already mentioned this (The Bay), but I don’t get it either.
This statue looks remarkably similar to the one at the Carlton University campus. In 2020 there was a petition circulating to have the statue removed because of Gandhi’s racists beliefs. Another Gandhi statue was removed from the University of Ghana. Gandhi’s writings referred to black South Americans as “kaffirs” an offensive racial slur.
More disturbing are news articles about Gandhi sharing his bed with his underaged grandniece and other young women.
Many other Gandhi statues have been vandalized and are the centre for controversy.
This is not the statue we need in front of the Huntsville Town Hall!!
Links: BBC News. Racist Gandhi statue removed from University omg Ghana
:CBC. Petition calls for removal of Gandhi statue from Carleton
:NPR. Gandhi is deeply revered, but his attitudes on race and sex are under scrutiny
:Yale University. Gandhi the non-saint
In reviewing the comments on Doppler regarding the acceptance, by Council, of the Ghandi statue, it appears that the issue is a very controversial one. A similar situation arose, several years ago, with the community’s reaction to the Tom Tomson ‘River Sculpture’. This controversy was resolved when the Town ultimately solicited community input on its acceptance or rejection.
I believe this ‘gifting’ warrants the same process.
Thanks to Councillor Clarke for your comments…I totally agree with you…..I do not want my tax money wasted on this garbage…..I also listened to Grant Nichols on radio this a.m. and totally agree with him that this 6 ft. statue does not belong on our Main Street…..Put it on Nancy Alcock’s Front Lawn or the Councillors who readily accept this gift if that is what they want…..and let them maintain it…..Ridiculous….Let’s have some of our local heros acknowledged…
PRAISES TO CORY AND GRANT…..
“high ranking diplomats from the Consulate of India along with leaders from Huntsville’s local Indian community” seem to be reaching out to Huntsville in attempt to establish a positive relationship with the community and Canada. When we are attempting to strengthen international trade, maybe accepting this gift is a good step. However, given the negative reactions voiced on Doppler, vandalism is unfortunately a real possibility. A positive gesture could become another dark blemish on Huntsville. After the unfortunate repercussions of accepting the gift for the very special washrooms for RiverMill Park, I am wondering if there should be a “thanks but no gifts” policy enacted by our council. ( free cash accepted only)
This entire debate is a microcosm of everything that’s gone wrong with this council.
Ghandi?!?! Are you kidding me? Maybe next year we can get a statue of Malcolm X, or Che Guevara or Yasser Arafat.
This is maybe the most ridiculous thing our council has done yet, and there’s plenty to chose from.
Ghandi has nothing to do with Huntsville, let alone being a religious fanatic in a religion that a tiny percentage of residents practice.
Why not a statue of Winston Churchill, Sir John A., Frank Miller – ya know, people with even a passing connection to Huntsville – Ontario – Canada – the Western Hemisphere.
This is nothing more than a foreign government seeking to spread its influence and whitewash itself. Just like Saudi Arabia does with sports, etc.
C’mon, give your heads a shake, Council, you can’t be that easily duped.
I hear there is still consideration of naming a ball diamond after George Selkirk. None of his peers felt he needed a bronze ‘nor a plaque or an etching on marble. Me neither. He contributed squat to Huntsville.
Now we are to get a bronze of Gandhi! A flaming racist ’til he decided to become a nation builder on the Indian sub-continent. His likeness to become a pigeon roost in a snowbank in Huntsville. Don’t see any mark he left on the town either.
Maybe we should advertise for mothballed bronzes. Tito. Che’. Lenin. Mao. There must be lots out there. We just have to be sure they have little or no connection to the town.
You aren’t kidding? Right!
So let me get this straight…India, a country that’s murdered a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, wants to donate an oversized statue (Ghandi was 5.5 ft tall) of a guy that’s never been to Canada let alone Muskoka or Huntsville? Got it…sure, let’s put it up in front of our town hall.
Does anyone else think this council is getting played…again?
We were chosen because nobody else wanted it.
Thanks Coucillor Clarke opposing this ‘gift’. How long will it be before someone or group decides that it isn’t displayed as prominently as the Tom Thompson display? Now is the time to say Thanks but No Thanks
How was Huntsville selected for this distinction?
The world is too small and there are too many of us sharing it for there to be cultural clashes when they are not accompanied by threats. The gift of a statue from another culture is just that, a gift, an offering given in peace and respect indicating a desire to live in peace, work together and build a society of inclusivity where we can all thrive. Diversity can easily be positive and rewarding. Other cultures bring interesting and different ideas, foods, music, skills and celebrations which can integrate with the existing ones to evolve into something even more vibrant and rewarding for all of us.
Thank you once again Councillor Clarke for seeming to be the only Huntsville Councillor with any common sense. I really don’t want my tax dollars going to insure this statue but of course I had no say in this.
As someone who was born and raised in Huntsville, I’m genuinely proud to see our town accept this gift in the spirit it was offered. It’s a powerful gesture of peace and cultural friendship, and it reflects the best of who we are as a community. Public art like this doesn’t just decorate a space — it sparks reflection, connection, and reminds us of the values we want to uphold.
Gandhi, like every historical figure, was complicated, but his global legacy of non-violence and moral courage remains undeniable. In a town that’s had to confront painful moments of racial prejudice in recent years, choosing to embrace a symbol of peace and inclusivity matters. It sends a clear message about the Huntsville we are building — one that learns, grows, and refuses to let fear or ignorance define us.
This is the kind of decision that strengthens a community. I’m glad to see us taking it. A heartfelt thank you to our Town of Huntsville councillors and leaders for accepting this gift. In moments like this, leadership isn’t just procedural — it’s moral. Choosing peace, inclusion, and cultural understanding strengthens our whole town.
It is a nice gift but hw does this fit into our vision for Huntsville. I forgot our mayor has no vision “HIT OR MISS”.