Removing monuments, renaming streets not priority for Indigenous Manitobans: poll

While Winnipeg wrestles with how to handle historical markers that do not reflect Indigenous perspectives, a new poll suggests the issue may not be top of mind for the Indigenous population in Manitoba.

The Probe Research poll found just 39 per cent of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Manitobans surveyed think removing statues and changing the names of places that commemorate Canadian leaders who helped set up residential schools should be considered a major aspect of reconciliation.

"Compared to things like land claims and even sort of territorial acknowledgments … issues of the statues and renaming roads is important, but not nearly as important as some of those really big, structural, sovereignty issues," said Mary Agnes Welch, a senior researcher at Probe Research.

"There's still a good four out of 10 of folks that say that removing statues and renaming streets is a big part of reconciliation, but they're kind of a minority."

Niigaan Sinclair, an associate professor in the University of Manitoba's department of native studies, said he wasn't surprised by the results of the poll.

"What the poll showed is that we're a lot more interested in land claims and issues around redress," Sinclair said Thursday afternoon.

"Reconciliation isn not just about place names. It's more about how are we going to live together and how are we going to live ethically together in an atmosphere of peace and civility."

The CBC Manitoba-commissioned poll, which surveyed 500 Indigenous people across Manitoba, found those in the north considered the issue to be slightly more important (45 per cent) than those in Winnipeg and the south and west, at 36 and 34 per cent respectively.

What to do with Winnipeg landmarks?

On Tuesday, Mayor Brian Bowman announced a plan that would see the city seek public input on the future of old statues, monuments, plaques and place names that only reflect colonial views of Winnipeg's history.

Last August, Victoria, B.C., made a snap decision to remove a statue of John A. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister, from its city hall. In contrast, Bowman says, he first wants to know what Winnipeggers think so the city can have a policy in place before any decisions must be made.

The move in Victoria ignited debate in Winnipeg about whether to rename Bishop Grandin Boulevard. The roadway is named after Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin, a Roman Catholic priest and bishop who lobbied the federal government to fund the construction of residential schools.

While Grandin advocated on behalf of Métis rights, he also believed First Nations people needed to be "civilized" and viewed residential schools as the way to accomplish this.

His involvement was cited in the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which concluded Grandin "led the campaign for residential schooling."

Education over renaming

The Probe poll also asked Indigenous respondents their thoughts on what to do with Bishop Grandin Boulevard, and  majority said they think educating the public about Grandin's history is more important than renaming the road named in his honour.

Fifty seven per cent said the road's name should remain with efforts instead made to educate the public about Bishop Grandin's role in residential schools. Another 25 per cent said they would like to see the road renamed, and 14 per cent would prefer to simply keep the name.

Respondents living in Winnipeg (33 per cent) were more likely to be in favour of changing the road's name compared with 20 per cent of those in the north and 19 per cent of those in the southern and western parts of the province.

While the city asks for input from Winnipeggers on the broader issue of renaming streets and landmarks and removing statues, Welch says the polls results show changing names and statues may not be what those most affected want.

"Fully changing the name is maybe a blunt instrument … folks seem to think there's more value in the education part of things," she said.

"That's an interesting message to the mayor as he's starting this process."

The poll collected data from respondents using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing system and through an online survey between Oct. 28 and Nov. 26, 2018.

Due to the mixed methodology used, no margin-of-data can be ascribed. However, if random sampling had been applied, the margin-of-error for a sample of this size would typically be +/- 4.33 per cent 19 times out of 20.