City council approved renaming O’Grady Road in College Heights to Dakelh Ti on Monday night.
The name means First Nation Road in the Carrier language, city director of planning and development Deanna Wasnik wrote in a report to council. The name was selected by the Lheidli T’enneh after consultation between the city and the First Nation.
The move comes after city council passed a resolution on July 12, 2021 to rename the road, following a request by Lheidli T’enneh Chief Dolleen Logan.
“The fact that Bishop (John Fergus) O'Grady who O'Grady Road is named for, played a key role in the administration of residential schools in B.C. while deaths and abuse of children occurred, is reason enough to change the name,” Logan wrote in her letter to city council in July 2021. “His name is synonymous with crimes against indigenous children. Our members and other indigenous citizens of Prince George are forced to relive residential school trauma every time we shop at the stores in the College Heights area where O'Grady road is located.”
On Monday council directed city administration to develop a communications plan to engage with residents and businesses located on O’Grady Road before the change is implemented.
Coun. Terri McConnachie said she understands completely the concerns of the Lheidli T’enneh.
“Those voices matter,” she said. “(But) I am also mindful that this is a marathon, and not a sprint.”
But the city should take the time to communicate to the owners of the 41 homes, five businesses and roughly 100 mobile homes in the College Heights Mobile Home Park before implementing the change, she said. McConnachie put forward a motion, approved unanimously by council, to request that city staff come back to city council with a communication plan prior to implementing the change.
Coun. Kyle Sampson said that the city could have looked at other processes to rename O’Grady Road, but, in consultation with the Lheidli T’enneh, “we’ve come up with something a bit more meaningful.”
However, he said, taking an inclusive approach means reaching out to the residents and business owners as well.
Coun. Frank Everitt said he supports the name change, but more communication will only make things better.
The former name of O’Grady Road was College Road. City council approved naming the road after Bishop O’Grady on April 10, 1989.
“Renaming a road has impacts on the residents and businesses that are located along the road, namely with respect to updating address information on personal, and business related, documents. The extent of the costs associated with updating address information are not fully known at this time; however, administration can confirm City of Prince George records would be updated at no cost to the owner/occupant/business, and private utilities (i.e. Telus, Shaw, Fortis BC, and BC Hydro) will update their records with the updated information following receipt of a confirmation letter from the City of Prince George advising of a road name change,” Wasnik wrote in a August 2021 report to city council. “Canada Post has also advised that the residents affected by a road name change will receive complementary mail forwarding for one year.”
