Lunenburg to move forward with Cornwallis Street name change

Council for the Town of Lunenburg has decided to move forward with the renaming of "Cornwallis Street" to "Queen Street" more than a year and a half after the town approved recommendations from its anti-racism special committee.

This comes several months after a councillor was removed as deputy mayor after he was critical of the decision to go with Queen Street.

A motion to rescind the name change to Queen was put before council by Coun. Ed Halverson — the same councillor who was removed from deputy mayor duties — on Tuesday and resulted in a tied 3-3 vote, leaving the motion dead on the floor.

The street was originally named after Edward Cornwallis, who the town described as a "controversial former governor of Nova Scotia" who "issued a 'scalping proclamation' bounty in 1749 to anyone who killed Mi'kmaw men, women, and children."

During this week's council meeting, Halverson argued that changing the street name to "Queen" didn't align with the goals of reconciliation with Indigenous communities in the province.

"At the beginning of each of our meetings, we acknowledge that we live on land that was appropriated from the Mi'kmaq," Halverson said during the meeting. "That is uncomfortable because we have to grapple with the realization that we, all of us here, live on land that belonged to somebody else generations ago and was never given up, so, technically, still does.

"I feel like we're good people around this table. I feel like we all agreed that we wanted to move forward and work towards a solution that makes amends as best we can in the spirit of reconciliation," he added.

In November 2023, Queen Street was decided on from a list of nine possible choices:

• E'se'katik (AY-SAY-kateek) Street: Original Mi'kmaw place name for Lunenburg, meaning place of clams.
• Gta'n (uk-dawn) Street: Mi'kmaw word for ocean.
• Kluscap (gloos-cap) Street: Named for a spiritual figure for Indigenous peoples located in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Atlantic Canada.
• Matlot (maduh-lot) Street: Mi'kmaw word for sailor.
• Merligueche Street: Mi'kmaw word for whitecaps which topped the waves. The survey noted it was also the former Acadian place name for Lunenburg.
• Nitap (knee-dub) Street: Mi'kmaw word for friend.
• Queen Street: Follows the naming convention of the nearby streets (Duke, King, Prince).
• Reconciliation Street: Named for the National Day of Truth & Reconciliation with Indigenous nations.
• Samqwan (sam-hwan) Street: The Mi'kmaw word for water. The survey noted this would represent the street's connection to the back and front harbours, and the community's overall ties to water.

Of the choices, "Queen" was the only one with no connection to the Indigenous community.

At the time, Coun. Melissa Duggan told CBC News she thought there would be "backlash" for the name choice as it was "not very indicative of what the anti-racism committee was hoping to accomplish."

During this most recent meeting, Halverson also said the name "Queen" was particularly ill-suited, since Cornwallis "committed atrocities in the name of the Crown."

"Now we're renaming the street for the Crown that those atrocities were committed for," he said. "I just ask if I'm missing something, if someone could explain why that's appropriate."

Coun. Jenni Birtles responded by saying that she moved to the town of Lunenburg for the community, not because of a street name.

"I live [on Fox Street] and I don't live there because I think I'm a fox," she said. "I don't live there because I think I'm in nature. I live there because I wanted my kids to grow up there and I wanted to be in the community."

After the vote, Halverson suggested for similar discussions in the future, the town should contact an expert on Indigenous affairs to help with language before matters go to public consultation.

Halverson 'disappointed'

In an interview with CBC News, Halverson said he was "disappointed" with the decision.

"I had really hoped that with some time to reflect, the council would see that we didn't achieve what we set out to achieve," he said.

He also said that as his time as a councillor comes to a close with the upcoming municipal elections this month, he hopes that the issue is taken up by the new council before the change is put into action.

"I still think we can get this right," he said. "I would hope that, perhaps, the incoming council could make a motion to have this renaming reviewed, put it out to consult and have them assess ... the suitability of the name and perhaps have them come back with it a better recommendation that would more actually reflect what we're trying to achieve."