Where the streets have old names

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Place names are a hot topic.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!

As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.

Now, more than ever, we need your support.

Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.

Subscribe Now

or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.

Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Brandon Sun access to your Winnipeg Free Press subscription for only

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on brandonsun.com
  • Read the Brandon Sun E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
Start now

No thanks

*$1 will be added to your next bill. After your 4 weeks access is complete your rate will increase by $4.99 a X percent off the regular rate.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/09/2021 (1457 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Place names are a hot topic.

The Black Lives Matter protests that broke out last year after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd and the outcry over residential schools after the discovery of 215 bodies buried in unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School have led to introspection over who we have named our streets and places after.

In Toronto, the board of directors of Ryerson University decided last month to find a new name for their institution because of namesake Egerton Ryerson’s role as one of the chief architects of Canada’s residential school system.

Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun
Jane Neil rests her bike near Victoria Avenue Friday. Neil has been exploring streets named after women in Brandon.
Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun Jane Neil rests her bike near Victoria Avenue Friday. Neil has been exploring streets named after women in Brandon.

East of Brandon in the provincial capital, the City of Winnipeg is investigating renaming one of its major streets, Bishop Grandin Boulevard, because the bishop lobbied in favour of the creation of residential schools in the 19th century.

Edmonton renamed a rapid transit station and Calgary renamed a school both named after the man as well.

There was a minor reckoning in Brandon last year — one that ultimately didn’t lead to any changes.

One of the city’s major streets, Rosser Avenue, is named after Thomas Lafayette Rosser, a major-general for the Confederacy in the American Civil War who also played a role in creating the city through his work bringing the Canadian Pacific Railway through the area.

The Confederate States attempted to secede from the northern states over the right to maintain slavery as the U.S. Government pushed for the emancipation of African Americans.

In September 2020, a Brandon University professor named John Simpson, wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt, made a presentation to Brandon City Council about why the street name needed to be changed.

Simpson presented evidence of Rosser’s personal views on slavery, like a racist speech delivered in Charlottesville, N.C., in 1900 and the fact that his family owned slaves at their Texas ranch.

He also brought up Rosser’s poor character during his time in Brandon, being fired for helping land speculators profit off of the city’s early development and taking a cut for himself and then trying to duel the man who fired him outside a hotel in Winnipeg.

The next month, another member of the public, Violet Joss, presented a counter-argument while sporting a shirt emblazoned with the slogan “Our History Matters.”

She argued that attempts to change the street’s name were a form of historical erasure and that her own research showed that there was no evidence that Rosser personally owned slaves and no evidence that he fought in the war to defend slavery.

Another argument of hers was that Rosser acted appropriately for a man of his time. That argument has been a common one among people against the removal of statues of people with racist legacies and the renaming of things named in their honour but is becoming less effective as places like Ryerson University have decided to shed their baggage.

Ultimately, Simpson’s presentation and a change.org petition with 325 signatories were not enough to overcome the inertia that drags down attempts to institute major changes.

What the conversation might have done, however, is lead the way for a more rigorous set of standards for who we name places after in Brandon going forward.

After the Rosser issue came forward last summer, Brandon resident Jane Neil went on a bike trip last year to look for places in Brandon named after women.

After moving to the city about three and a half years ago, it was a way for her to learn more about her adopted home.

“That was part of my coping strategy during the pandemic,” Neil told the Sun on Thursday. “This was my motivation to get out around the roads and streets of Brandon and looking for where the women are. I didn’t just look for the roads that were named after women because I wouldn’t have been there very long.”

Ultimately, she didn’t find too many places, including streets, named after women and even fewer places named after women who actually made a direct impact on the city.

Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun
Brandonites are pushing for a committee dedicated to deciding street names.
Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun Brandonites are pushing for a committee dedicated to deciding street names.

Avenues include Victoria, Princess, Louise and Patricia.

There are also a couple of streets that could be named after a husband, a wife or both members of a couple, like Marshall Road.

In total, Neil found 31 places or things in the city named after women last year and has since added another — not very many for a city of approximately 50,000 that has been in existence for nearly 140 years.

“One of my intents, when I presented to council, was ‘let’s have a think about this in modern-day terms and what’s going on now,’” Neil said. “Things get named that reflect the history of the time they were named. Brandon was created in 1882. That was the height of British imperialism, that was the colonizing of the Prairies. That’s when Brandon first appeared on the scene and the royals were the history of the time. I have no problem with that other than let’s bring things up to date and show today’s history.

“Today’s history is about Black Lives Matter, that’s what prompted the Rosser debate. It’s about truth and reconciliation and the call to action. It’s about Me Too movement, it’s about diversity, it’s about equality, so let’s start looking at our community through those eyes.”

She suggested that the city could, for instance, name a new street after Angela Chalmers, a Brandon-born woman of Sioux descent who won a bronze medal in the 3,000-metre race at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Neil’s presentation resurfaced recently at Brandon City Council during a discussion surrounding the naming of a street after Brandon Wheat Kings legend Don Dietrich, who died earlier this year.

Coun. Jan Chaboyer (Green Acres) said she didn’t take issue with Dietrich being honoured for his accomplishments, but wondered when the city would actually revise its official naming policy to make it so that more women and Indigenous peoples who have left their mark on the Wheat City would be honoured.

Mayor Rick Chrest commented that during his first tenure on council, there was a street naming committee that rarely met and was disbanded as a result.

A document provided to the Sun by the city’s records and information manager Ian Richards from 2008 outlines that the committee was created in 1987 and disbanded in 2002 after a review of the city’s committees.

“Since this time, the property administration section of the development services division has been administering street names within the City of Brandon,” the report reads. “Through various subdivision projects with regards to street naming, it has become evident that a policy document needed to be created by which to better establish guidelines for such street names in the City and allow developers the opportunity to better understand the process by which street names are determined and/or finally approved.”

According to the current policy from 2019, which was sent to the Sun by the city’s director of planning, Ryan Nickel, a developer must ask the city for a list of possible name themes and unused names from the city and then submit proposed names back to the city.

The criteria for who can have a street named after them is as follows:

• a person who demonstrates excellence, courage or exceptional dedication to service in ways that bring special credit to the city;

• a person who volunteers and gives extraordinary help or care to individuals, families or groups, or supports community services or humanitarian causes;

• a person who fosters equality and reduces discrimination;

• a person who risks his or her life to save or protect others;

Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun
Coun. Jan Chaboyer (Green Acres) stands next to street signs named after hockey players in a new development Friday.
Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun Coun. Jan Chaboyer (Green Acres) stands next to street signs named after hockey players in a new development Friday.

• a person who achieves a deed or activity performed in an outstanding professional manner or of an uncommonly high standard that brings considerable benefit or great honour to the city; or

• a former mayor or city councillor.

Additionally, developers must give special consideration to “those of Indigenous descent to further truth and reconciliation,” though there is no specific requirement to include them.

“It just seems like all the recommendations right now are coming from the planning department,” Chaboyer said in a Thursday phone interview. “I don’t think that’s where it should sit for various reasons.”

What she would like to see is a municipal committee take charge of naming streets, whether it’s a new committee or perhaps additional duties given to the existing heritage committee.

“This is an opportunity to recognize so many individuals or groups,” Chaboyer said. “There should be a gender balance, of course. There’s other people who have contributed to the betterment of our society and community and it could be someone in the sciences, art, music, the list goes on and on.”

The councillor believes a street naming committee should be comprised of experts in their fields, like historians and other citizens who know the city well and can mine the history for worthy candidates. She believes now that this issue has resurfaced and more streets come up to be named, the lack of diverse representation will be noticed more and more by the residents of Brandon.

After the Sun wrote a story including Chaboyer’s comments from the last council meeting, Chaboyer has had people reach out to her to thank her for bringing up the issue.

For his part, Chrest said he would talk to city manager Ron Bowles about developing changes to the existing policy. The Sun reached out to Bowles for this piece but was informed he was away from the office.

Simpson, who spoke out against Rosser Avenue at city council last year, offered these hopes for the future of street names in an email while acknowledging the lack of appetite to actually change existing ones.

“Brandon is fortunate to be led by a council of earnest and dedicated individuals,” Simpson wrote. “My hope is that they will work to implement changes in the near future that better broadcast Brandon’s commitment to inclusivity: symbols, emblems and street names that applaud and honour women, Indigenous persons, and citizens that have immigrated to Brandon from distant countries.

“Better broadcasting should mean that inclusive street naming isn’t merely tucked away on the streets and cul de sacs of new developments, but that it occurs on Brandon’s major thoroughfares. If there is little appetite for renaming main streets like Rosser (as I’ve discovered), honourary street names would be an important step forward. Rosser, Princess, Victoria, 18th, and First streets would be a good start.”

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ColinSlark

Report Error Submit a Tip

Local

LOAD MORE