Commentary
Today in Canada, it is common to hear that truth and reconciliation are necessary to mend indigenous-non-indigenous relations. Unfortunately, the notion of objective truth is being replaced by subjective beliefs, and attempts at reconciliation quite often result in discord and misinformation.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Powell River, a picturesque coastal city on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. Powell River was once lauded as a model of collaboration between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people. Now, it is the scene of a divisive fight over changing the name of the city.
A name change for Powell River was tentatively proposed in May 2021 by the local Tla’amin Nation as an effort to further reconciliation in the area. At the time, city officials said they were skeptical. A month later, after allegations surfaced about the “remains of 215 children” buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, the name change demand became more dogmatic. “The prospect of changing the name must not be a matter of ‘if’, but a matter of ‘when,’” stated Tla-main chief (or hegus) John Hackett in June 2021….