Coquitlam looks to rename Dewdney Trunk amid student push

After students took action to rename Dewdney Trunk Road in Coquitlam because of the racist history, the city is now considering new names.

The road, which stretches across a large part of Metro Vancouver, is named after Edgar Dewdney. He was a politician in the late 1800s who, among other things, was involved in the creation of residential schools.

The push to rename part of the route comes from a group of grade 9 students at Charles Best Secondary in Coquitlam.

Candrina Bailey, Executive Director of Coquitlam Heritage says thanks to the students, the city’s planning department is drafting a list of new names.

“This is something that we all should or could be involved in, looking at people who have been named or honored and letting the rest of the community know when maybe it’s not the right fit anymore for who we are as a community.”

Bailey says Coquitlam Heritage worked to fast track the renaming after seeing the students’ call for change.

“We reread research to make sure that the information was was correct and they did a great job.”

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She says although the reasoning behind choosing street names after certain people is not very clear, she supports going back to make changes with new knowledge.

“We’re very supportive of going back and researching why things were named and who they were. And if in today’s standards, they still hold up as an honoree or as somebody who should be honored.”

Dewdney was Indian commissioner for the North-West Territories in the late 1870s to late 1880s. He later became lieutenant-governor of the North-West Territories.

“Back then we didn’t record anybody who wasn’t a white man generally. So, going back doing that research to pull more people into the permanent record is a priority.”

The students have suggested the new name should honour someone from a more diverse background, and the city should work with the Kwikwetlem First Nation to select the appropriate name.

“The city has put some money to a pot for it. So maybe it’s farther up in their work plan than we know.”

– With files from Michael Williams