Alexis Nguyen / Staff Reporter
A group of grade 9 students at Dr. Charles Best secondary school are pushing to rename Dewdney Trunk Road, the large road that stretches in different parts of the Lower Mainland, according to the article “Is it time to rename Dewdney Trunk Road? A group of determined Coquitlam students say ‘yes’” by Kyle Balzer.
The street was named after Edgar Dewdney, a former lieutenant-governor in the Northwest Territories and British Columbia.
During his time in office, Dewdney was racist towards Indigenous people, pushing them onto reserves and withholding food sources from Indigenous and Metis nations, causing them to die of starvation. He also tried to justify the creation of residential schools, since he feared the younger generation of Indigenous people would fight back, claiming residential schools would turn them into model citizens.
While the information has just come to light for most people, many are calling for the renaming of Dewdney Trunk Road, as someone who had a bad reputation in history should not be the person being honoured with a street, from the Tri-City News article ”Letter: Reviewing the names of Coquitlam streets – is it too hard of a task?” by Carl Trepanier.
“I didn’t know who he was, but I now know he didn’t do anything good. I feel like the street name should be changed since it is morally wrong, and for those who were affected by his actions, it probably hurts to see the street name knowing what he did,” said Patrick Ma, grade 11.
Selin Hekimoglu, grade 11, also didn’t know who he was, and expressed she was disappointed the city named the street after him considering what he did in the past.
Renaming a street or building would not be new for Coquitlam. Less than a year ago, the provincial government renamed what was formerly known as Riverview Hospital to a new name that honours the Kwikwetlem First Nation.
Close by in Vancouver, city council voted unanimously to rename Trutch street, which was named after Joseph Trutch, a racist individual who took away the land from Indigenous people, claiming it wasn’t theirs. The street will be renamed by the Musqueam First Nation.
Having the street renamed to a name that honours Indigenous people would allow the community to learn the history of the people who’s land we reside on.
“Even if it is a small step, it would mean some efforts are being put in to try and reconcile with Indigenous people,” said Hekimoglu.
If Dewdney Trunk Road does get a new name, another action that could be done is to look at other street names to see if renaming is needed for any other streets. While it does sound costly, the city has people who are employed with the skillset to assist with this process.
“Hopefully this action does start a movement. Canada already has a national holiday dedicated to reconciliation with Indigenous people, and while this is smaller than a holiday, it would still make a large difference,” said Ma.
“Next actions should be to start investigating street names and who they are possibly named after,” said Hekimoglu.
The names of our streets should be in honour history and be people worth being proud of, not of people who are looked down upon in history. It is not too late the change and make that difference to learn about our history.
Sources:
Is it time to rename Dewdney Trunk Road? A group of determined Coquitlam students say ‘yes’
Letter: Reviewing the names of Coquitlam streets – is it too hard of a task?
Riverview Hospital is renamed ‘səmiq̓wəʔelə’ as master planning starts on Coquitlam site
Vancouver city council votes unanimously to change street named after colonial leader
Vancouver’s Trutch Street to be renamed by Musqueam First Nation
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