Motion to rename park withdrawn after MMF complaint

A motion to rename a Glenwood park will be withdrawn after complaints the process would replace a name that honours Métis history.

Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) had raised a motion to rename Carriere Avenue Park in honour of James Peebles, an astrophysicist and astronomer raised in the St. Boniface neighbourhood. The motion was seconded by Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface).

Mayes issued a statement Tuesday that noted he and Allard have agreed to withdraw the motion instead of bringing it forward for a city council vote Thursday.

“(The councillors will instead) move to name a new outdoor classroom in St. George Park for Nobel laureate James Peebles … Both councillors learned last night that the Manitoba Métis Federation had concerns about renaming of the park,” the statement said.

The change follows a complaint from the MMF late Monday afternoon. The federation said the park 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.”

The councillors’ original motion asked city council to waive the Welcoming Winnipeg Policy, which is under review and has paused its intake process, in order to rename the park in honour of Peebles.

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

MMF said the city did not complete consultations about renaming the park.

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

In an emailed statement, Mayes and Allard said they learned about the renaming concerns Monday night. The two partnered to create the park in 2024, stopping a proposed sale of city green space and spending ward funds to create a park instead, it noted.

City staff members named the park after the adjacent Carriere Avenue, Mayes and Allard said in the statement.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca