The significance of park naming in Tyndall Park
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/07/2022 (332 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Over the last couple of years, Tyndall Park has officially named two parks. One in honour of an important person and the other in recognition of a historic incident. I would like to talk briefly about these two parks here.
George Heshka Park — Almost a year and a half ago, the park on westbound Burrows Avenue at King Edward Street was officially named George Heshka Park. Many of you, myself included, remember Mr. Heshka as our principal at Sisler High School, where was principal for 40 years, beginning in 1980, and transformed Sisler into one of the Top 10 high schools in Canada, according to Macleans magazine. He was also a good-hearted, intelligent, and caring man who always made us feel safe. Principal Heshka positively affected the lives of thousands of students not only in the North End, but also our school system at large.
Mr. Heshka contributed so much to our community and to all of us who live here. He passed away in March 2021, butwill always be cherished and loved.
Komagata Maru Park — A couple of weeks back, the official city sign went up on Kaur Umber Trail for the Komagata Maru Park. To provide a bit of background, in 1914, there was an incident here in Canada that is now known as the Komagata Maru incident. The federal government, with the support of other governments and many other stakeholders at the time, turned away a ship with hundreds of South Asian migrants aboard, many of whom were Sikh, that had landed in Vancouver. In 2016, our Prime Minister formally apologized in the House of Commons for the role the federal government played in this incident. Following the apology, some community-minded people thought it would be appropriate to look for a park that could be named as a commemorative park.
It Is important that this incident is recognized and understood as it continues to have an impact on our community today. I am grateful for the advocacy work of so many residents in pushing all levels of government to play a role in the creation of this park.
I really appreciate the thoughtfulness in how the names were chosen for these parks and am happy to see the creation of them both. I look forward to continuing working with the community and organizations to see what parks in Tyndall Park can look like in the years ahead.
Cindy Lamoureux
Tyndall Park constituency report
Cindy Lamoureux is the Liberal MLA for Tyndall Park.