MMF objects to city renaming St. Boniface park

The Manitoba Métis Federation is questioning why the city wants to change the name of a park that honours Métis history — one year after it opened in the Glenwood neighbourhood.

City council will review a motion to rename Carriere Avenue Park in honour of James Peebles, an astrophysicist and astronomer raised in the St. Boniface neighbourhood.

The park, which opened last September near the corner of Carriere Avenue and Des Meurons Street, was built on the former farmland of André Carriere, the federation said in a news release Monday.

“It seems that the city did not undertake appropriate due diligence to understand the historical significance of the name given to the street itself, much less the park,” MMF Winnipeg region vice president Andrew Carrier, a descendant of André Carriere, said in a statement.

“Like many Red River Métis, he and his family were forcibly relocated away from the farm… This is not ancient history. This is an example of the harm done to our culture and community by Canada, and our families still face the consequences of it today.”

A notice of motion, moved by Coun. Brian Mayes and supported by Coun. Matt Allard, asks city council to waive the Welcoming Winnipeg Policy in order to rename the park in honour of Peebles.

It notes Peebles recently celebrated his 90th birthday, and points to another recent example in which council expedited the renaming of a park in Transcona, owing to the honouree’s advanced age.

The Welcoming Winnipeg initiative outlines the city’s naming policy for historical markers and place names, in the spirit of reconciliation.

The MMF said it intends to contest the motion, arguing the initiative is “designed to prevent misguided moves of this nature.” It said the city has not completed consultations about renaming the park.

“That the city seems intent on bypassing their own protocols for this renaming represents an affront to the Red River Métis, showing deep disrespect for our past, present, and future contributions to the advancement of this place now called Winnipeg,” the statement said.

“That it’s being done after only a year of the park’s existence is equally troubling – names are important. They have meaning and significance, and should not be up for renaming within a year of creation.”

The motion will go before city council Thursday.