Canadian retailer removes Confederate plaque from Montreal flagship

ByDAVID CAPLAN ABCNews logo
Thursday, August 17, 2017

Not all Confederate statues and monuments are in the South -- or even the United States.

On Tuesday, Canadian retailer Hudson's Bay Company -- which also owns Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue -- removed a plaque dedicated to Confederate President Jefferson Davis from its downtown Montreal store.

Hudson's Bay Company spokeswoman Tiffany Bourre confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday night that the plaque was removed but declined to comment what promoted its removal. According to to ABC News' Canadian partner, CTV News, Montrealers expressed their dissatisfaction with the plaque in light of the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville last weekend and contacted the retailer demanding its removal.

Davis, a slave owner, was sent to prison following the Confederates' defeat in the Civil War. After his release from prison, he relocated to Montreal and lived in a home where the department store now stands.

The plaque was installed in 1957 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, according to CTV News.

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