Toronto unveils bronze statue of WWI flying ace William Barker on Yonge Street
Canada's most decorated military aviator now stands in a Toronto park, in the Canadian Air Force uniform he would have worn after the war.
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
A bronze statue of Lt.-Col. William G. Barker went up on Yonge Street Wednesday afternoon, at Scrivener Square Park, in front of a crowd that watched a Lancaster flyover, heard martial music and sat through a series of speeches.
Barker is Canada's most decorated military aviator, according to the RCAF Foundation. He flew in World War I alongside fellow Victoria Cross recipient Billy Bishop. He was the first leader of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the first president of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he established the first commercial airline run out of the Toronto Island airport, with Bishop.
John Wright, founding chair of the RCAF Foundation, which facilitated the statue, said it celebrates Barker's military success and his contributions to Toronto and Canada. Wright said it is the only statue in the country that shows Barker in his Canadian Air Force uniform, the forerunner to the RCAF. "It was pretty tough to get the different buttons and things to make it up, but it is historically accurate," he told reporters.
Barker's grandson, Ian Mackenzie, said the family is pleased. Mackenzie, now in his 70s, said his grandfather was "as famous as a rock star" when he was young, but "we watched him, like, gradually just disappear from memory."
The statue joins a plaque at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery mausoleum, a statue at Billy Bishop Airport and a statue in Ottawa.
What did the statue cost, and who paid for it? The material does not say.
Did the City of Toronto have a role in the park or the statue's placement?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
