Selin Hekimoglu / Staff Reporter
A group of students from Dr. Charles Best Secondary are strongly encouraging the Coquitlam government to change the name of Dewdney Trunk Road.
The name Dewdney Trunk Road is in reference to Edgar Dewdney, a former politician who also built roads and was a land surveyor. Some students from Charles Best are hoping to unveil to others that Dewdney was involved in residential schools and mistreated First Nations People.
The road joins together Port Moody and Lougheed Highway and is a major route for many Coquitlam citizens. Many students also use this road to get to school.
Dewdney refused food sources to Metis and Indigenous communities, which led to thousands of deaths caused by extreme starvation. He was also an Indigenous commissioner, with the job of creating a policy for the residential schools. According to the report “Edgar Dewdney: Industrial Schools in the N.W.T,” from the University of Regina, Dewdney was positive that “a great end” would be “attained for the permanent and lasting benefit of the Indian.”
15 students from a social studies 9 class at Dr. Charles Best believe that some changes need to be made. They suggest that the streets’ name should be changed into one that acknowledges the Kwikwetlem First Nation. Maya Wong, a grade 11 student said, “I think it’s necessary that we come together as a nation and work towards finally recognizing First Nations people.” Wong adds, “Changing the road name would be a small but effective step we could take.”
Recently, more than 1800 unmarked graves of First Nations children have been discovered in Canada. This caused discourse between the Canadian government and Indigenous communities. With Dewdney’s association to these residential schools, the group of Charles Best students wrote and signed individual letters that support a name change for the road, so it no longer stands for Dewdney and his actions.
Rick Glumac, a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Port Moody-Coquitlam has confirmed that he did in fact receive the letters and will soon be releasing his response. The student’s idea of changing the roads name was heard and supported by Bonita Zarrillo, a Port Moody-Coquitlam member of parliament, and Coquitlam councilor, Chris Wilson.
“If the Canadian government cares about First Nations people as much as they advocate, then of course they will put in the effort to make these changes,” Yuki Ikari, a grade 11 student explains. She adds, “At the end of the day, words are just words. The government can say as much as they want to, but what really matters is the actions they take to truly help our fellow Indigenous communities.”
Sources:
Is it time to rename Dewdney Trunk Road? A group of determined Coquitlam students say ‘yes’