Proposal to rename Saskatoon's John A Macdonald Road clears first hurdle
Saskatoon's John A Macdonald Road is one step closer to having a new name.
Ward 3 Coun. David Kirton presented a motion at Monday's Governance and Priorities Committee meeting that would start the process of having the road renamed.
The motion says it's a way to acknowledge the ongoing harm the community experienced because of residential schools and the role Canada's first prime minister played in the residential school system.
The motion passed at committee unanimously and will go before City Council for further approval.
Kirton says he’ll be working with different levels of government to help ensure there are no costs to residents for changing over the street name.
“We're going to demand of them, in the spirit of reconciliation that any costs that are associated with the change of those addresses be eaten up by the organizer,” said Kirton
He gave the example for the cost of changing people’s street address through Canada Post.
“I would be extremely surprised if we were turned down on a request such as this,” Kirton told CTV News.
RECONCILIATION ROAD?
Saskatoon Tribal Chief Mark Arcand has suggested Reconciliation Road as an alternative but Kirton says much still needs to be decided.
“We need to take the time to engage with the residents of Confederation Park neighbourhood in general, but also with elders and with survivors,” said Kirton.
- but not everyone living on the road is on board with the move just yet.
Some residents have voiced concern over the fees and other factors associated with changing the street name.
“All your banking or your pet veterinarian tags, they all have to be changed,” resident Dan Norton said.
“It all comes down to the John A residents, not people that are two blocks over this way, or two blocks over there. They're willing to say yes, because they have no work involved to make this change happen.”
Charlene Gunn has been living on John A Macdonald Road since 2008. Gunn said her husband is a residential school survivor and that she understands and respects the motion, but wants to ensure the potential costs of handling mailing issues are addressed.
“It’s going to be a hassle, an inconvenience. It’s our mailing address and also with our animals, we have them register with the city,” said Gunn.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.