Patrick Johnson was headed to mediation after admitting to defacing a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in the City of Regina.

Johnson initially intended to plead not guilty to a charge of mischief and wanted to move the situation along as far it would go and to as much of an audience as possible in order to bring his ideas forward. Johnson assumed that the longer his charges were winding their way through the court, the more people in the court would hear of why he chose to deface the statue.

Now, he will instead discuss his ideas in mediation with a representative from the City of Regina since the case has been referred to the Regina Alternative Measures program (RAMP). Johnson met with a representative from RAMP and agreed to try mediation.

Should mediation prove successful, the charges against Johnson will be withdrawn and he will no longer face a criminal conviction. However, both sides must agree to a resolution after sharing their side of the issue.

Johnson claims that he believes he is not guilty of mischief because he propels people in general discourse and the national government's own proposal. He admitted to using spray paint to deface the statue, but believes his actions were not criminal because he has a bigger reason and it wasn’t malicious vandalism or damage.

Johnson is a musician who lives in Vibank and willingly came forward after painting the statue. He also admitted to defacing the statue in the past with his goal to be able to recover the protected space in downtown Regina for First Nations people given their history with the nation's first prime minister.