Wolseley name challenged

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This article was published 08/02/2024 (581 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A request to rename Wolseley School is reviving the debate over whether it’s appropriate for landmarks to pay tribute to historic leaders whose actions do not align with 21st century values.

The nursery-to-Grade 6 building’s parent advisory council recently put forward a request to the Winnipeg School Division to start a formal review process.

Its namesake, Col. Garnet Wolseley, and his legacy as the leader of the 1870 expedition tasked with putting an end to Louis Riel’s provisional government in the Red River Colony have come into question in recent years.

“(My classmates and I) weren’t well-educated in the actual history of Canada and I think that’s changing for the better,” said Kristin Stoezel, noting both she and her two elementary schoolers support the renaming initiative.

While Stoezel has lived in Wolseley for 16 years, she said she only recently learned her neighbourhood is named after a former commander-in-chief of the British Army.

By some historical accounts — including a biography posted on the school’s website — Wolseley (1833-1913) was tapped to guide “the force sent west to the Red River to quell the Riel insurrection.” By others, he commanded a violent and co-ordinated attack against the Métis people.

In 2021, a collective of Métis organizers launched a public awareness campaign to advertise the colonizer’s hand in inciting racism, violence, murder and displacement in what is now known as Manitoba.

Red River Echoes members hung up posters about him leading troops that sexually assaulted and murdered Indigenous people, in turn prompting a community meeting and early discussions about mobilizing for a name change at Winnipeg city hall.

Wolseley Family Place, a resource centre in the area, rebranded to Acorn Family Place the following year.

“Society moves in waves, and we always want to progress and the idea of thinking historically about how we put significance on buildings, on roads, on parks is a fruitful intellectual endeavour that we want our students to be engaged in,” said Matt Henderson, chief superintendent of WSD.

Central school trustees approved updates to internal policies on renaming schools and special-purpose areas such as auditoriums, courtyards and athletic fields during their public meeting on Monday.

The amendments include a clause that allows community members to propose a new title that meets division standards. Previously, a building could only be renamed after the street on which it faces, the historical or current name of the community in which it resides or a title that is symbolic of a unique program offered on the premises.

Staff, students, parent councils and community members can submit renaming requests to the board of trustees.

These appeals must include a description of a namesake’s actions “that are not in accordance with WSD values” and outline the harm that continued use of the name may inflict upon community members.

During the latest board meeting, trustee Jamie Dumont — who has long advocated for proactive school name reviews — spoke about the critical importance of community consultation in such matters.

Dumont also noted there’s been dismal participation in the division’s renaming surveys in the past.

Less than one-quarter of parents and guardians at Greenway School, which is named after former premier Thomas Greenway (1838-1908), who supported anti-francophone legislation, responded to a survey.

Similarly, a poll sent to 188 family members at Champlain School yielded 20 responses — an 11 per cent turnout rate. The elementary school’s title honours French explorer, colonizer and the first governor of French Canada, Samuel de Champlain (1567-1635).

Henderson said the division is reconsidering its consultation process to ensure all naming discussions are more extensive.

While noting that new titles are costly, the superintendent said “it may be money well spent if, indeed, a community wants to go down the path.”

Following two years of contentious community consultations, WSD’s Cecil Rhodes School reopened as Keewatin Prairie Community School for the 2022-23 academic year.

Secretary-treasurer Hollis Zhang indicated “the ballpark cost” of changing a school’s name is $100,000, given the transition can require everything from updating sports jerseys to replacing logos on a gymnasium floor.

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“The best-case scenario, which is the cheapest one, would be $43,000,” Zhang told trustees earlier this week. “The worst-case scenario could be $181,000.”

A proactive review of all school names in WSD is currently on hold due to the price tag of undertaking such a project.

A spokesperson for the Wolseley Residents’ Association indicated the non-profit has opted not to get involved in renaming discussions because its members are volunteers with time constraints and tasked with long-standing organizational priorities ranging from tree-planting to transportation issues.

“We are not endorsing any position, but are open to positive learning about the history of our neighbourhood’s namesake, and to discussions on what this means for us,” chairman Ross Brownlee wrote in an email.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.