Today in Canada, it is common to hear that truth and reconciliation are necessary to mend indigenous-non-indigenous relations. Unfortunately, the notion of objective truth is being replaced by subjective beliefs, and attempts at reconciliation quite often result in discord and misinformation.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Powell River, a picturesque coastal city on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. Powell River was once lauded as a model of collaboration between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people. Now, it is the scene of a divisive fight over changing the name of the city.
A name change for Powell River was tentatively proposed in May 2021 by the local Tla’amin Nation as an effort to further reconciliation in the area. At the time, city officials said they were skeptical. A month later, after allegations surfaced about the “remains of 215 children” buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, the name change demand became more dogmatic. “The prospect of changing the name must not be a matter of ‘if’, but a matter of ‘when’”, stated Tla-main chief (or ‘Hegus’) John Hackett in June 2021.
Hackett argued that the town’s current name had to go because of the legacy of its supposed namesake, Israel Wood Powell. From 1872 to 1889, Powell was the federal superintendent of B.C.’s Indian Affairs. As such, he stands accused of being “instrumental” in the creation of residential schools in the province and for outlawing the potlatch, a native gift-giving ceremony. But like the false claim about the 215 children allegedly found at Kamloops, this continues to be unproven.
According to local historian Arthur Richards, Powell had little role in developing residential schools; he was far more interested in creating Indian day schools. Only two of 18 residential school in the province were even open during his term. As for the potlatch ban, Powell was actually responding to a petition from several native leaders in the province who wanted the expensive and poverty-inducing ceremony “put down” because it was harming their tribes. According to the authoritative Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Powell was “more sympathetic to native people than most of his contemporaries were.”
It is not even clear the city is actually named after Israel Wood Powell. According to extensive research by amateur historian Robin Tremblay, it could be named for Edward J. Powell, the Chief Cartographer of the British Admiralty’s Hydrographic Office. Tremblay points to several other geographic features in B.C. that are provably named for mapmaker Powell, rather than civil servant Powell.
Despite repeated attempts by resident researchers to correct this misinformation, several Powell River city councillors have worked hard to push through a name change. A Joint Working Group was created to consult with local residents. When it quickly became apparent that a majority opposed the name change and wanted a referendum to settle the matter, this group declared that a vote would be “divisive” and “more conversations” were required.
In response to the refusal of civic officials to listen to the will of the people, residents formed their own group “Concerned Citizens of Powell River,” to mobilize support in favour of a referendum. For seeking a democratic solution to this issue, Tla’amin leadership attacked them as an “extremist group”.
At least two members of Concerned Citizens of Powell River – paramedic Ted Vizzutti and Brian Burroughs, a school board employee – faced false accusations of racism from their employers. Vizzutti was forced into early retirement and prohibited from working part-time. Burroughs was subjected to disciplinary procedures and then ostracized by his colleagues before retiring. All because they made their feelings known about the name change debate on social media. Today, a veritable reign of terror exists in Powell River, with neighbours shunning neighbours and many citizens fearful of speaking out in case they might lose their jobs too.
As the Powell River name-change debacle reveals, “truth” no longer means a reliance on verifiable facts and evidence. The true historical record of Israel Wood Powell – which reveals him to have been an enlightened and liberal administrator with broad sympathy for Indigenous people – is of no consequence. Further, no one even seems to care if Powell River is actually named for the man himself.
As for “reconciliation”, relations between native and non-native in Powell River have never been lower. What was supposed to be a healing process has metastasized into an attempt to impose the will of a minority on everyone else. And this is enforced through accusations of racism and job loss. Democracy depends on the unfettered right of citizens to speak their mind on the pressing issues of the day. Right now, democracy is at risk in Powell River.
There is no question that Indigenous people have suffered terrible injustices throughout Canada’s history. Indigenous people live in isolated communities with high rates of violence, fetal alcohol syndrome, economic dependency and educational deficiencies. They need emergency interventions and access to high-quality services. But all this is being ignored in favour of pushing through a name change against the will of local residents. This isn’t progress. It is the opposite.
Frances Widdowson, PhD, is a political scientist and an expert on Indigenous policy who was fired from Mount Royal University in Calgary for satirizing woke ideas. A longer version of this story first appeared at www.C2CJournal.ca.
