By Erika Morris Some Quebec municipalities and organizations are offering to take a controversial statue of Samuel de Champlain from an Ontario city in Simcoe County. The nearly four-metre-tall bronze monument of the 17th century explorer and founder of Quebec City was removed from a park in Orillia, Ont., and placed in storage in 2017 following debate over its colonial imagery. Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac said a wave of offers poured in after the city recently raised the possibility of melting the statue down. “They say it’s racist, it’s not our history, it is an insult to Indigenous peoples,” McIsaac said in an interview about the controversy over the statue. “The plaque on the initial statue that was put up in 1925 said the statue celebrates the advent of white…
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