The statue became the site of several Mi'kmaw protests in 2017 and the city established a committee to determine how to deal with the issue. Disturbed by lack of progress, in January 2018 the Assembly of Mi'kmaq Chiefs called for immediate removal of the statue. The Cornwallis statue was covered with a tarpaulin, then removed by order of Halifax Regional Council on 30 January 2018 and placed into storage. Council worked with Mi'kmaw Chiefs to establish a task force to examine the commemoration of Cornwallis and the final disposition of the statue, as well as how best to commemorate Indigenous history in the Halifax Regional Municipality.