Troubling history has Oliver residents seeking name change
EDMONTON Oliver residents are asking the City of Edmonton to change the name of its most populous neighbourhood because of its namesake’s history of racism.
The Oliver Community League, representing the core neighbourhood west of downtown, launched a campaign Tuesday morning calling on the city to launch a renaming process led by Indigenous communities to create a new name for the area.
The board of directors voted to oppose the Oliver namesake as part of the league’s “Uncover Oliver” campaign because it doesn’t reflect the diversity and inclusivity of the community, president Robyn Paches told Postmedia.
“It’s been a long time coming. This has been a conversation for numerous years that first came to light in 2017,” he said. “Right now is a time in which society in general is talking about racism and what we can do to combat racism and folks have realized it’s simply not enough to be complacent. Folks are talking about this more than they ever have before.”
Frank Oliver was an Edmonton-based federal member of parliament and minister who was instrumental in the removal of Indigenous people from their land by introducing the Oliver Act.
Oliver resident and Sucker Cree First Nation member Jacquelyn Cardinal said the act was one of several of his actions that discriminated against minorities.
“This had horrible impacts on Indigenous people, but they were not the only people his policies affected,” she said. “The Immigration Act of 1906 was incredibly discriminatory and also put forward legislation that tried to shut down Blacks trying to escape the United States into Canada.”
Oliver, who also has a pool, school and park named after him in the neighbourhood, represented Edmonton politically at the federal level from 1904 to 1917 and fought for the city at the national table. He helped establish the province’s national parks, fought for the city’s economic interests and was an integral advocate for Edmonton being named Alberta’s capital over Calgary.
Downtown Coun. Scott Mckeen, who represents and lives in the neighbourhood, said he welcomes the discussion but isn’t sure if removing Oliver’s name is the right solution without informing the public of his discriminatory actions. He suggested the city erect plaques and display panels that provide details of the policies he advocated for that negatively affected Indigenous communities.
“One of the things I worry about with just pulling the name off, then we even want to forget that there was exploitation, fraud, robbery and theft by the early white establishment against the First Nations people in the area,” he said. “There’s a discussion that the community of Oliver and the broader community needs to have to honour reconciliation and through that come up with an answer that best fits the philosophy of Edmonton in 2020.”
The community league is seeking city support and resources to begin a renaming discussion with the public. In response, the city is developing a process to rename a neighbourhood or park because this is the first time it has been discussed, spokeswoman Mary-ann Thurber said. Municipal resources are formalized by the city’s naming committee, but this doesn’t cover renaming.
“Any suggestions for renaming neighbourhoods and buildings would be taken to city council for approval,” Thurber said in a statement to Postmedia.
Under a new neighbourhood name, Paches said the community would intend to hold a discussion every 30 years to review the name and ensure it still aligned with the values of future generations.