Saskatoon city council to hear motion on renaming John A. Macdonald Road

Saskatoon city councillor David Kirton gave an impassioned speech at a governance and priorities committee meeting Monday morning on why he wants to see John A. Macdonald Road be renamed.

"Orest Joseph Kirton, or Buck — that was the name that he went by — ran away from school in Grade 2," said Kirton, who is Métis and represents Ward 3, the area where the road is located. "He never went back to school. And as a result, he lived his life as an illiterate."

Kirton said his father never told them about what residential school he attended, but the impact on his life was immense.

"But Buck was one of the lucky ones. He lived until he was about 81, albeit his life was without the written word."

Kirton introduced a motion asking that John A. Macdonald Road be renamed after a consultation with Elders, residential school survivors and other Indigenous community members.

The motion was unanimously approved and will now be put on the agenda of next week's city council meeting.

Cities across the country are grappling with calls for name changes associated with Canada's first prime minister.

Macdonald was one of the architects of the residential school system.

Wâhkôhtowin Elementary School, previously named Confederation Park School, is on John A. Macdonald Road.

Some members of Wâhkôhtowin school staff spoke at the committee on how painful it is to see the Macdonald name every time they go to the school.

They support changing the street name and urged the community to work together in making the change.

Mayor Charlie Clark said he was at a pipe ceremony on the weekend and an elder talked to him about being a nine-year-old child at a residential school and having to help dig a grave for one of his classmates.

"We have been saying as a community that we are going to work toward reconciliation, but i think what is important about this day is that it cannot happen without truth," Clark said.

"And if we deny and downplay the truth that survivors and families have been painfully and courageously sharing, then we will not get to reconciliation.

"This is about acknowledging that truth and hearing what people have said."

Not everyone is happy with changing the name.

Dan Norton addressed the committee and said he had canvassed people on the street and many did not want the name changed.

Norton said he wants to let residents who live on that street have more of a say because they will have to change IDs and mailing addresses.

Kirton and Clark both said they are willing to work with residents to make the street name change as easy as possible.