'An explicit endorsement': Regina city council votes down motion to rename Dewdney Avenue

Regina city councilors voted down a motion to rename Dewdney Avenue.

The motion, presented by councilors Andrew Stevens and Dan Leblanc, would have tasked administration to search for a new name for the street.

Just three councilors – Cheryl Stadnichuk, Stevens and Leblanc – voted in favour of renaming the street.

“I would call it an explicit endorsement of Edgar Dewdney,” Leblanc told reporters following Wednesday’s vote.

Edgar Dewdney was born in 1835 in England and died in 1916. He held many political positions in Canada after arriving in the country in 1859.

In 1881, Dewdney was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the NWT, a position he held in conjunction with that of Indian commissioner. One of his first significant acts in this role was the selection of Regina (Wascana) as the new territorial capital in 1882, according to the University of Saskatchewan.

Dewdney’s use of withholding rations as a device to impose state authority on First Nations is often cited when discussing his controversial status among Canada’s Indigenous population.

The threat of hunger compelled Indigenous peoples to settle on reserves, adopt agriculture and send their children to mission schools.

Dewdney Avenue is Regina’s longest road and is the only street which stretches from the eastern city limit to the west, with over 2,500 addresses, both business and residential.

Many are in the heart of North Central.

Leblanc believed a council which opens each meeting with a land acknowledgment recognizing Regina’s commitment to reconciliation could have taken another step toward achieving their goals of connecting with Indigenous residents.

“It can fairly be read that we’re not even at the truth stage of truth and reconciliation,” he said. “This was an easy win.”

“We do land acknowledgements to honour that we exist on this land,” Mayor Sandra Masters told reporters in response. “I appreciate [Leblanc’s] disappointment.”

“There are things we can do but this may not be one of them,” she added.

The motion presented by Leblanc and fellow Coun. Andrew Stevens was originally before council in June.

Debate did not happen at that meeting because council lost quorum from not enough councilors being present after 13 delegates – who were all in favour of changing the name – spoke to the motion.

“That would give opportunity for you to forget what we just said,” Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway told council on June 26.

Coun. Stevens believes many who voted against the motion had their mind made up.

“I’m not convinced the delegations made much of a difference,” he said. “Maybe it could have been very different if those delegations were in the room.”

Councillors Terina Nelson, John Findura, Bob Hawkins, Landon Mohl, Lori Bresciani, Jason Mancinelli, and Mayor Masters all voted against the motion.

“If this was a one kilometer street or a bay or a circumstance like that, there would be no hesitation in my mind,” Mancinelli told the meeting. “It’s the actual physical characteristics, the outcomes and the number addresses.”

Masters said community members she spoke to said there has to be a balance.

“If you’re going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, there are better initiatives to spend it on,” she said. “We have areas where we could be telling the story, educating.”

City Manager Niki Anderson compared Dewdney Avenue to streets in other cities which also had their names changed.

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Saskatoon’s John. A. MacDonald Road was changed last November. Around 172 addresses were impacted on the 1.6 kilometre long road. Streets in Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton and Winnipeg were also compared.

“Comparator cities had a smaller number of buildings [on the road],” Anderson explained.

The city of Saskatoon said costs to change the name of John A. MacDonald Road to miyo-wahkohtowin Road were approximately $60,000.

Masters said she saw figures as high as $2 million for the change. She outlined costs for road signage changes, inconvenience charges to residents and businesses as well as other items.

“There are other things we could invest into that would not be divisive,” she said. “Council isn’t just interested in doing something symbolic that’s also incredibly divisive.”

“If something is politically meaningful and aligns with your values, you find a way to pay for it,” Leblanc said.

Administration also said the cost for individual residents, if any, would me minimal, while to businesses it would be about $100.

During questioning by Leblanc during council debate, Anderson confirmed the city uses the naming of streets to celebrate the people they are named after and if the road was named today, Regina would not chose Dewdney’s name for the street.

“We cannot continue to celebrate Edgar Dewdney,” Leblanc said.

While neither Leblanc or Stevens are running for city council in Regina’s upcoming civic election this November, both were hopeful Dewdney’s name would be scratched from the city’s street signs one day.

“I hope there is a community within the city that is engaged in a meaningful and sincere way on reconciliation,” Stevens said. “And maybe there’s other powerful voices in the community that want to see this change.”

“We could have done it today,” Leblanc said. “We ought to have, but it’s not a one and done situation.”