John A. Macdonald Road residents in Saskatoon vent frustrations about street name change process

Residents living on John A. Macdonald Road got an opportunity to voice their concerns about the street's upcoming name change Tuesday.

A handful of residents attended the city's naming committee to tell councillors they felt blindsided by how the new name of miyo-wâhkôhtowin Road (meaning "good relationships" in Cree) was selected and communicated to residents.

"Most residents present desire to be included in the creation of the new name -- (we) wanted a choice," resident Charlotte Rode said to the committee.

"Consequently, the new name meaning 'good relations' has not prompted a good relationship with the residents of the road."

Council began its first-ever road renaming when it unanimously approved a name change in June 2021 when suspected unmarked grave sites were being discovered at former residential schools across the country. Macdonald was Canada's first Prime Minister and is regarded as a key architect in the residential school system.

The city spent the last two years consulting with Indigenous leaders, residential school survivors, elders and knowledge keepers to come up with the proposed name and broke the news to residents last week during a meeting at wâhkôhtowin School.

• Get the CTV News app for Saskatoon area breaking news alerts and top stories 

Residents were informed of the meeting a week prior with a letter left in their mailboxes.

"It's a shame you bypassed all of us residents in the renaming until the last hour," longtime resident Candice Luther said.

Luther said she was not in favour of renaming the street Reconciliation Road, like Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand suggested in 2021 when a renaming was agreed upon. Luther said that name would "carry a shame" for future people living on the street.

Luther claims she was told "we had to learn English, so you can learn Cree." by a person facilitating the July 26 meeting when she complained many residents would have trouble saying it.

"We can't pronounce it, it's too long and we can't spell it," Luther said.

Other names offered up during the meeting were Hope Road, Unity Road, Harmony Road and Arcand Road.

But the city's director of Indigenous initiatives, Melissa Cote, says an English language name wasn't the best option available.

"It was felt if it was an Indigenous language, it would be more meaningful for the survivors and the Indigenous people that were part of that, and anyone that's been harmed by the name" Cote said.

Cote said aligning wâhkôhtowin School with a similar street name was a driving force after the school was renamed from Confederation Park School in 2020.

"Residential schools resulted in a breakdown of communities," she said. "And good relationships will bring us together."

City administration says residents won't have to pay anything out of pocket for the renaming. Even changing land titles over will be taken care of by the city.

Some were worried about how long the name is, to which Ward 7 Coun. Mairin Loewen had an easy response.

"This is a good, meaningful name, and frankly only one letter longer than the existing name," she said.

Fabian Genaille endorsed the name, and says he would like to see more things in the city renamed to honour the area's Indigenous past like his Saulteaux roots.

"A lot of people here may live on the street and like the name, but at the same time, it offends a lot of people," he said.

Even though nearly everyone at the meeting was supportive of a name change and referenced the pain Macdonald's name can cause, they didn't like the way the city went about it and they wanted a decision to be held off until more consultation was done with the roughly 150 homes on the street.

However, it's a request that's unlikely to be granted. Council is expected to formally approve the name change at its Sept. 27 meeting, three days before the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.