Friday, March 29, 2024

Trutch Street rename gets unanimous thumbs-up from Victoria city council

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Goodbye Trutch, hello Su’it.

Victoria city council voted unanimously at Thursday’s committee of a whole meeting to rename controversial Trutch Street to Su’it Street.

“I think this is a small but important symbolic step which is a long time coming,” said Coun. Jeremy Loveday.

“I think this a good step and one that we should take, and I think that it’s been thoughtfully approached.”

The 200-metre long road, which runs between Richardson Street and Fairfield Road, is currently named after Joseph Trutch.

A petition created last year—Remove Joseph Trutch’s Name From Trutch Street—stated that the 19th-century politician “created racist policies that displaced Indigenous Peoples in British Columbia and beyond.”

In June 2021, city council directed staff to report back on the implications of changing the road’s name to “Truth Street” while inviting the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and local residents to share their input.

With 116 addresses registered to Trutch Street, the city received 31 responses. Twenty-one supported the name change, while eight supported the change but not the proposed name “Truth.”

“This was primarily related to the uncertainty around the relevance of the name to local First Nations,” reads a city report.

After discussions with Mayor Lisa Helps and city councillors, First Nations suggested using səʔit—the Lekwungen translation of truth, written as su’it in English letters.

“I think this is a reasonable step for the city to take based on all of the circumstances surrounding this placename and input we’ve received from the public,” said Coun. Ben Isitt.

“Trutch isn’t someone to be honoured; he’s someone to be remembered. He played a role in BC’s entry into Canada,” Isitt added.

“But placenames are a way of honouring individuals, and I don’t think Trutch meets the threshold for being worthy of honour by the municipality.”

According to the city, updated street signage will include both the Lekwungen and English spellings, with no direct costs for people to complete a residential address name change with government agencies.

Staff will now seek input from First Nations on any further cultural considerations relating to the renaming process, including pronunciation, while also proceeding with administrative requirements and installing new street signage.

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