City Council will be the next stop in the renaming process of John A Macdonald road.

Mayor Charlie Clark says the community is facing a moment where it is working to reconciliation, but that cannot happen without truth. Clark says if we deny and downplay the truth that survivors and families have been painfully and courageously sharing, then we will not get to reconciliation. Clark states changing the name will be difficult, will create some disruption and turbulence, but it will also be a learning process and another step forward in acknowledging our history.

The motion to start the re-naming process was passed unanimously at the City’s Governance and Priorities meeting. The motion was created to acknowledge the ongoing harm the First Nations communities experienced because of residential schools and the role Canada’s first prime minister played in that.

The governance and priorities committee also received over 60 emails regarding the issue, some for and some against the name change.