Vancouver’s Gassy Jack statue vandalized, petition asks for its removal

The statue honours Jack Deighton, and the neighbourhood of Gastown is named after him. Deighton owned a Vancouver saloon in the 1860’s and he was referred to as “Gassy” Jack because of his talkativeness.

The statue has caused controversy in recent years as indigenous women spoke out against Deighton’s past—mainly about his marriage to a 12-year-old girl from Squamish when he was 40-years-old. They add that the statue is an oppressive symbol against indigenous people.

An online petition on Change.org calling for the removal of the Vancouver statue has gathered about 2,500 signatures so far.

Many historical statues have been defaced and even torn down by protestors since the ongoing protests throughout Europe and North America that were spurred by the police killing of George Floyd on May 25.

The City of Vancouver notified police about the vandalism and the paint has been cleaned from the statue.