'Alternate options' to be discussed for new Cornwallis Street name, Lunenburg mayor says

The Town of Lunenburg might not be renaming Cornwallis Street to Queen Street after all, following criticism from last week's council decision.

On Nov. 28, town council decided on the new name in a 4-3 vote, following the result of a public survey in which "Queen Street" had been the most popular. But the initial recommendation to rename Cornwallis Street came from the town's anti-racism committee, which suggested choosing a new name that reflects Mi'kmaw culture.

In a statement posted to the town's website on Monday, Mayor Jamie Myra said he and councillors have been "hearing what people have been saying about the the street renaming." He said council is "discussing alternate options on which we can all agree."

"We are working on this as a group. This is not an issue to be used as a political platform. It is much bigger than that," Myra said in his post.

Cornwallis Street was named after Halifax founder Edward Cornwallis. He was the British governor of Nova Scotia who, in 1749, issued a scalping proclamation against Mi'kmaw men, women and children.

Some places in Nova Scotia that had been named after Cornwallis now have new names, like Peace and Friendship Park and Nora Bernard Street in Halifax — the latter being named after a Mi'kmaw activist.

"If people had been this passionate almost a year ago when Queen Street was included as an option on the survey, we probably wouldn't be discussing this right now," the mayor said in his post. "Calling councillors, staff or residents of our lovely community racist because of this is just not fair or accurate."

'We probably got this one wrong,' mayor says

In an interview with CBC News on Tuesday night, Myra said the town received a lot of pushback from the public when Queen Street was chosen.

The mayor said he hopes to bring other naming options to the table at a future council meeting.

At that meeting, he anticipates a motion will be put forward to "look at other options" and rescind the Nov. 28 motion to turn Cornwallis Street into Queen Street. An agenda for the meeting will be posted to the town's website later this week.

In order for the motion to pass, Myra said a majority of council will need to agree the renaming process was "a bit flawed to start."

He said those flaws include having nine names on the short list — Queen Street being one of them.

"Putting Queen Street on there to begin with wasn't one of the wiser moves that we've ever made as a group … I think we've all accepted the fact that we probably got this one wrong," said Myra, who was elected over the summer.

Trying to make it right

Myra said the community is divided on the issue and some residents have made "nasty" comments to people on town council.

He said the councillors who voted in favour of Queen Street were being called racist, though he pointed out that name had been chosen because it reflected the results of the public survey.

"I had a posters hung up all over the town today when I went to work with my face on it basically calling me a racist and that. So I mean, we just want to try to make it right," he said.

'People want to see reconciliation move forward'

Patricia Doyle-Bedwell, a professor of Indigenous Studies at Dalhousie University, said she was hopeful about the news council could revisit the name change.

"When we're talking about changing that name, it's not to hide the history but it's to stop honouring somebody who brutalized us as Mi'kmaw people," Doyle-Bedwell told CBC News in an interview Wednesday evening. 

"The fact there was significant resistance to changing the name from Cornwallis to Queen Street means people understand that concept of colonialism, that the Crown is still part of that colonial power and people want to see reconciliation move forward so that we're part of history, we're part of Nova Scotia history."

Mainstreet NS13:27New name choice for Lunenburg street facing backlash

Last week, the Town of Lunenburg voted to rename Cornwallis Street to Queen Street. Following public criticism, the mayor says council is revisiting the decision. We'll hear from Mayor Jamie Myra and Margie Knickle, who was on the anti-racism committee involved in bringing forward a list of names.

Doyle-Bedwell, who is from Potlotek First Nation, said she hopes council considers names that honour reconciliation and the Mi'kmaw people.

Margaret Knickle, a volunteer on the anti-racism committee that had recommended renaming Cornwallis Street, told CBC's Mainstreet Halifax in an interview on Wednesday she's thankful council could end up choosing a new name other than Queen.

"That [the mayor] is entertaining other options is great," Knickle said.