Name change urged for building, bridge honouring Langevin
OTTAWA — The federal government should consider renaming the building that houses the Prime Minister’s Office because it’s named for an architect of the oppressive residential school system, a professor of native studies says.
The Langevin Block, a sandstone building across the street from Parliament Hill, is named for Hector-Louis Langevin, a Father of Confederation who helped create the school system that removed aboriginal children from their families to save them from becoming, in his words, “savages.”
“I would like to see a name change in the light of reconciliation,” said Linda Many Guns, a professor of indigenous philosophy at the University of Lethbridge, who is also supportive of a petition to rename Calgary’s Langevin Bridge. The petition was launched after the report this month of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which examined the legacy of the residential school system.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi says he’s considering the request to change the bridge’s name.
The Conservative government, however, doesn’t seem to have much interest in the idea.
“There are no plans to rename the Langevin Block,” Public Works and Government Services Minister Diane Finley said in a statement released by her office.
The renaming of the 1889 building would be even more symbolic because it is the daily workplace of the prime minister, Many Guns said.
“I think, because of the relevance to the government, it almost becomes more pertinent, especially given the commitment and (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper’s apology to the residential school people,” she said.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report prominently quotes Langevin’s 1883 statement in the House of Commons, in which he argued, “In order to educate the children properly we must separate them from their families. Some people may say that this is hard but if we want to civilize them we must do that.”
The Department of Indian Affairs was among the building’s first tenants and remained there until 1965. After renovations in the 1970s, it was used to provide additional space from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Privy Council Office. It was designated a national historic site in 1977.