Controversy over statues, street names rare in city

Compared with some cities in the United States, Regina has very little controversy associated with statues.

Except for some vandalism of the Sir John. A. Macdonald statue in Victoria Park in 2012, the biggest recent statue debate concerned whether or not the city should have one of Deadpool.

“I think for the most part, we are in a far more positive place than what they are struggling with in the United States,” said Jim Nicol, chief legislative officer and city clerk.

When it comes to streets though, Regina has some controversial names and the process to change those names comes down to city council approval.

“There are certainly provisions whereby there is a process to undertake,” said Nicol. “What that means is that council has the final approval for naming streets.”

One such street is Dewdney Avenue, which was named for Edgar Dewdney, the man who was instrumental in setting up the Canadian reserve system. Earlier this year, there was a call to rename Dewdney Avenue to Buffalo Avenue. Another controversial street is Davin Crescent, named for Nicholas Flood Davin, the author of The Davin Report that advised the federal government to set up residential schools for Indigenous children.

Name changes have happened in the past, according to Nicol, but most often due to spelling corrections.

“I have found two significant examples were a name changed, and not for any reason except that it was more of a branding,” Nicol said. “In the late 1970s, or early 1980s, when South Railway was renamed Saskatchewan Drive. The only other instance of any significance was in the early 1900s when 16th Avenue was renamed College Avenue.”

Nicol stated that for any name change from the public, it would eventually reach council.

“If somebody was to submit a request to us, to my office, we would be bound to take that to council to say someone has raised concerns about this, and here are the reasons why,” Nicol said.

Prior to taking anything to council, a report would have to be created that detailed the implications for the city, as well as concerns from residents and businesses that are impacted.

“When they renamed Saskatchewan Drive, it impacted a number of residences and businesses,” Nicol said. “Other potential changes, depending on where they are in the city, can have big implications.”

The city is currently looking at how it names streets and parks, with a special emphasis on Indigenous names.

On the statue side of things, if it were to ever come up, a removal would follow a similar path as a street name change.

“I think it would fall to the same process,” Nicol said. “If we look at removing a statue … I would have to look into if we owned it or if it was gifted. We would have to confirm if, in that case, it was gifted to us by someone, because if the decision was made to remove it you have to know who to remove it to.”