Hundreds of protestors marched along Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway Sept. 30 for Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, calling on the National Capital Commission (NCC) to rename the road.
The march, which ran from the Canadian War Museum to Parkdale Avenue, was announced in 2021 by Algonquin Anishinaabe spiritual leader and human rights activist Albert Dumont. He wants the parkway to be renamed “Kichi Zibi Parkway” after the Kitigan Zibi lands upon which it sits. Participants created a petition that will eventually be presented to the NCC.
In August 2012, NCC renamed the former Ottawa River Parkway to honour Canada’s first prime minister. Among politicians in attendance were mayoral candidate Mark Sutcliffe and former Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, in charge of the NCC at the time.
“Without the vision of Sir John A. Macdonald, we would not have the Canada that we know and … love today,” Baird said at the event.
To Canada’s Indigenous peoples, however, the legacy of Macdonald’s vision is one of hurt and betrayal. Dumont said he’s appalled that “a man who promotes the inhumane act of genocide” continues to have a road named after him.
MPP Joel Harden, who attended the march, said the NCC was likely trying to “valorize” the era of Macdonald and that the renaming was “indicative of previous attitudes” prevailing today. Harden, a “major admirer of Albert Dumont,” said he was impressed by the turnout at the protest.
“This is why I love living here,” he said, adding that community engagement at events like this is “what got us through the convoy back in February [and] what got us through the pandemic.”
Singer-songwriter Christophe Elie, also present at the march and carrying Haitian roots, found the large crowd “heartwarming.” He and singer-songwriter Chris White, who has Black and Indigenous Nova Scotian heritage, run radio shows on CKCU FM called Songs for the Revolution and Canadian Spaces, respectively, and performed separately at the event to support Dumont’s call to action.
White said Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway is “the most offensive name possible.” If the road were renamed again, Elie said it would show that “residents of Ottawa and the NCC care about reconciliation.”
Officially, the NCC hasn’t decided whether to rename the parkway. Following the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in 2021, the commission committed itself to updating its toponymy policy. The revised policy was first presented to the NCC’s board of directors in April 2022. Only then did the commission confirm that the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway name would be the first asset under review.
“This will contribute to a better understanding of the local history and topography, as well as the cultural significance of the location to the Algonquin people.”
As of September, the new Advisory Committee on Toponymy aims to engage with the Algonquin peoples and other stakeholders throughout the review process. Despite these measures, the committee hasn’t presented a stance on its decision to change the name.
“This will contribute to a better understanding of the local history and topography, as well as the cultural significance of the location to the Algonquin people,” an NCC statement to the Charlatan read. “Over the coming weeks, our public engagement strategy will be further refined and shared with the committee for their input. Engagement activities will seek to inform and engage the public and NCC stakeholders of the NCC’s review of the parkway name.”
Dumont said all Canadians could benefit from reconciliation efforts and added he wonders why more people don’t care about names like Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway when their tax dollars help clean up the former prime minister’s misdeeds. Until the name is changed, Dumont and others will organize the same march annually and chant in unison, “Red or yellow, Black or white, every child matters.”
Featured image by Lauren Bingham.
