The duty of carrying out the renaming of Cornwallis Street to Queen Street is officially out of the hands of the current Lunenburg Town Council.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Council once again affirmed that the Lunenburg street will now don the name Queen.
Councillor Ed Halverson made a final attempt to revisit the street renaming in hopes of rescinding the motion in favour of Queen Street.
The next council meeting will be held by the council members elected during the October 19 municipal election.
Street renaming process ongoing since December 2022
Lunenburg committed to renaming Cornwallis Street in December 2022, with council accepting a proposal from the now-defunct Anti-Racism Special Committee to end this aspect of the legacy of Edward Cornwallis after public consultation.
A release by the town in January acknowledged “the controversial former governor of Nova Scotia issued a scalping proclamation bounty in 1749 to anyone who killed Mi’kmaw men, women, and children.”
The Town then launched an online survey to assist with the decision of renaming Cornwallis Street.
The survey provided ten options, including a write-in “Other” option, and invited voters to choose their first, second and third preference from the names. The survey form made it clear that survey results were “for guidance only.”
After a publicity campaign including direct mail to households in town, about 270 unique votes were submitted by people saying they are Lunenburg residents.
In advance of the November 28, 2023 meeting of Council, councillors were presented a report on the survey data. Barnacle reporting has since shown that the report misrepresented survey data and omitted 103 comments.
Council proceeded to vote to rename Cornwallis Street to Queen Street at the same meeting.
Councillors Jenni Birtles, Stephen Ernst, Deputy Mayor Peter Mosher and Mayor Jamie Myra voted in favour of the motion. Councillors Melissa Duggan, Susan Sanford and Ed Halverson voted against the motion.
Councillor Halverson adamant that Queen is the wrong choice
Since the beginning of this process, Halverson has been against Queen Street, saying replacing Cornwallis Street with Queen Street would go against the point of the decision to rename the street.
“I can’t reconcile naming a street, where we remove the name of someone who was a representative of the Crown, for tremendous acts, and then proposing to rename it after the Crown he was representing,” said Halverson at the November 2023 meeting. “It makes no sense, so I think we need to take Queen Street out of consideration.”
“I think it’s a slap in the face, frankly, to our Indigenous neighbours,” he said.
“It’s not about who we think we are, it’s about an act of reconciliation.”
Councillor Halverson made an appeal to his fellow councillors to reconsider their commitment to Queen Street on Tuesday night. He said he believes that names have influence.
“It’s not about who we think we are, it’s about an act of reconciliation,” said Halverson.
“When you put someone’s name up somewhere… it becomes a part of the fabric of our community.”
Councillor Birtles was the only other councillor who spoke to the matter. She reaffirmed her commitment to Queen Street, disagreeing with Halverson that names hold power.
“I didn’t live or move or anything to the Town of Lunenburg for a street name, I’m here because of the community. I live at 101 Fox Street and I don’t live there because I think I’m a fox… I live there because I wanted my kids to grow up there and I wanted to be in the community” said Birtles.
The motion to rescind the original Queen Street motion died with a tie vote.
Councillors Duggan, Halverson and Mayor Myra voted in favour of the motion. Councillors Birtles, Ernst, and Deputy Mayor Mosher voted against the motion.
Halverson ask for clarification on next steps
After the motion failed, Councillor Halverson asked for more information on if interpretive panels or additional information would be accompanying Labrador Park, Sylvia Park and the newly named Queen Street.
The initial plan for renaming the two parks and Cornwallis Street included updating or adding interpretive panels.
Interim CAO Hilary Grant confirmed that a summer intern worked on researching African Nova Scotian and Indigenous histories to aid in drafting the text for interpretive panels. The text will be presented for community consultation before the panels are printed and installed.
Process for renaming slower than Mayor anticipated
In a July 2 Facebook post, Mayor Myra stated that the renaming process should be done in time for National Truth and Reconciliation Day.
“Later this summer we will be installing a permanent Mi’kmaq flagpole in addition to removing the Cornwallis Street signs. All will be completed in ample time for September 30th, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation,” write Mayor Myra.
“I have requested staff to put this item back on the upcoming agenda as we need to have the name changed before the Municipal election in the Fall. I feel it would be unfair to put this on a brand-new Council.”
