It can be any type of tree. Any tree would be better than looking at James McGill.

As we all hopefully know, James McGill was a slave owner who enslaved Black and Indigenous people and used the wealth gained by their exploitation to start McGill University. McGill University makes no mention of this on their website, instead romanticizing his boring life.

There has long been calls for the statue to be removed. McGill has never listened.

https://graphitepublications.com/james-mcgill-was-a-slave-owner-200-years-of-denial/

http://www.mcgilltribune.com/opinion/erased-by-the-administration-james-mcgill-was-a-slave-owner-18022020/