Trudeau government may rename Confederation Bridge “Epekwitk Crossing”

The Trudeau authorities has told the CBC that it’s now contemplating a request to alter the title of Confederation Bridge to Epekwitk Crossing to advertise reconciliation with Indigenous teams.

Public Companies and Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi confirmed to the state broadcaster this week that the title change for Confederation Bridge – connecting Prince Edward Island (PEI) and New Brunswick – was beneath overview.

“The renaming of the bridge can play an vital function in reconciliation by selling the Mi’kmaw language and tradition,” stated Tassi. “Additional advancing the work of reconciliation is and has been a precedence of our authorities for the reason that get-go. We are going to proceed on this path.”

On the finish of April, the PEI authorities voted unanimously to request the Trudeau authorities change the title of Canada’s longest and most costly bridge, calling it “a dedication to upholding the rights of Indigenous folks, that are protected beneath the Structure.”

“This can be a nice alternative,” stated P.E.I. Premier Dennis King, whose tabling of the movement was seconded by Opposition Inexperienced Celebration chief Peter Bevan-Baker.  “I’m excited for the method, and I’m excited for what’s to come back.”

The movement added, “it’s of the utmost significance Indigenous languages are revered and acknowledged,” including that 2022 is the Worldwide Decade of Indigenous Language.

The New Brunswick authorities has taken no place, nonetheless, saying “(t)his shouldn’t be a provincial choice, and so the Premier shouldn’t be going to weigh in on the topic right now.”

Development of Confederation Bridge passed off between 1993 and 1997, and price $1.3 billion {dollars} to finish. At almost 13km in size, it stays one of many longest bridges on this planet, persevering with the Trans-Canada Freeway between the 2 northern Maritime Provinces. Earlier than this, journey between PEI and New Brunswick was offered largely by ferries.

The title Epekwitk – anglicized as Abegweit, and the normal Mi’kmaw title for PEI itself – is already mirrored within the title of Abegweit Passage, the narrowest a part of the Northumberland Strait, which Confederation Bridge crosses. “Abegweit Crossing” was additionally one of many unique title proposals for Confederation Bridge in 1997, with two ferries taking the title MV Abegweit between 1947 and 1997.

The transfer to rechristen Confederation Bridge to Epekwitk Crossing displays an escalating pattern on the a part of governments to advertise Indigenous reconciliation and “decolonization” by renaming Canadian establishments and infrastructure.

Colleges throughout the nation named after the Father of Confederation and Canada’s first prime minister John A. Macdonald, for instance, have been modified or are into consideration by trustees. Calgary’s Sir John A. Macdonald College is looking at dropping it, whereas Brampton’s Sir John A. Macdonald Senior Public College has simply been renamed Nibi Emosaawdang Public College, after an Ojibwe grandmother and “water-rights activist.”

Toronto’s Ryerson College was additionally renamed final month to Toronto Metropolitan College after a unanimous vote by its board of governors to carry namesake Egerton Ryerson accountable for his function within the Indigenous residential college system.

Dozens of statues of historic figures – together with Macdonald but additionally Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II – have additionally been both ripped down throughout protests or eliminated by governments in response to points surrounding residential colleges and reconciliation.

Regardless of saying that it’s contemplating the PEI authorities’s request to rename Confederation Bridge, the Trudeau authorities has not offered a timeline for its overview.