Border CFOB Fort Frances
With Dryden poised to change the name of Colonization Avenue next month, Fort Frances is the latest to follow suit.
Council unanimously voted Monday night its intent to change the name of the road.
Mayor June Caul says it’s the right thing to do.
“Because of the history. The disregard by political leaders across this country for hundreds of years. The part that churches played. And the genocide against Indigenous people, families, children and their right to practice their own culture.”
Councillor Mike Behan would like to see the change take effect in 2022 to give residents time to change their documentation.
“I’m not naïve. I know this will not change history or right past wrongs but I do believe this is an important gesture in our part to move forward and building a new relationship with our First Nations neighbours for the betterment of all.”
In a statement Councillor Douglas Judson stated, “Tonight we need to answer that question, definitively, and recognize as a council that colonization is a concept we no longer wish to honour in our municipality. Moreover, we need to be forthright about recognizing this change as a reconciliation effort to generate a new name in that vein, with Indigenous consultation, just like our policy suggests.”
Judson added, “If we are unwilling to do that, then I am afraid that our commitments to our Indigenous citizens and neighbours don’t look like they amount to much. My suggestion to my colleagues tonight is that we can turn the page on this by framing the discussion for the next stage of the process in a better way. We can do that by telling the community what types of names we want them to propose.”
He stressed that if they are serious about their own stated commitments, the municipality should be looking for names that reflect Indigenous history, culture, language, reconciliation, or the relationship with treaty people.
Following the meeting Judson stated in a Tweet that “Sadly, no member of council was willing to support my position that the new name reflect Indigenous history, culture or reconciliation.”
A public meeting will be held in the next thirty days to solicit feedback.
A final vote will come after that meeting.
The Working Circle in Dryden is hoping for a Council decision on Colonization Avenue in April with a potential new name on June 21 on Indigenous Peoples Day.
Here are my remarks from tonight's meeting of @fort_frances council on the recommendation to rename #ColonizationRoad. Sadly, no member of council was willing to support my position that the new name reflect Indigenous history, culture or reconciliation. https://t.co/OHMwBZfHwX
— Douglas W. Judson (@dwjudson) March 23, 2021
(With files from Randy Thoms: Fort Frances)
