Let’s change the name of Canada

Re: Calls for some students that Ryerson University change its name

As a Ryerson, I think that it is only fair that we change the name of Canada, too. After all, it was under the name “Canada” that we did nasty things to our Indigenous Peoples; coerced people of German origin (like my grandfather, Andrew Eickmeier, born in Canada) to change the brand names of their companies to English names during the world wars; took away the land of Canadians of Japanese origin during the Second World War; and turned away Jewish people before that war.

We can then call this new land “Politically correct land .”

The Ryerson name was originally Reijersen; we had to anglicize the name when the British took over New Amsterdam and called it New York. Perhaps Ryerson University should be called Reijersen University to return to what the name was before we were forced to change it.

History cannot be rewritten. The tremendous good done by someone over 150 years ago should not be erased for how someone else interpreted the educational approaches that were, at the time, forward-thinking and far more egalitarian than what existed under the Family Compact.

Perhaps some of those who identify themselves as minorities would be better off figuring out ways to make the future better rather than looking for someone to blame in the past.

Dr. Bob Ryerson, CMS, FASPRS, Manotick