A trustee with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board has filed a notice of motion for the board’s Ryerson Elementary School to be renamed and that all local schools named after individuals be reviewed.
The push for a renaming comes amid news that the remains of 215 children were found at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia.
I just filed a Notice of Motion to rename Ryerson Elementary School & initiate a review of all schools named after individuals. We are still on a path to truth and reconciliation. School names must reflect human rights, decolonization, anti-racism and anti-oppression principles! pic.twitter.com/WS9cInJ2UU
— Cam Galindo (@Cam_Galindo) May 31, 2021
Ryerson Elementary School is named for Edgerton Ryerson, who was an architect of the residential school system in Canada.
Ward 9 and 10 trustee Cam Galindo shared the motion via social media this week, prior to a board meeting with the HWDSB on June 7th.
“The policy that ripped Indigenous children from their families and placed them in residential schools amounted to ‘cultural genocide’ as described by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015,” reads the motion.
“We are still on a path to truth and reconciliation and must continue our work on Indigenous Education so that all Indigenous students and staff feel that they belong, and their identities are valued, recognized, and affirmed in our schools.”
The motion calls for Ryerson’s name to be removed, and for a renaming committee to be assembled in consultation with the Indigenous team at the HWDSB as well as the community.
The full motion can be read on Cam Galindo’s Twitter.
Lead image courtesy of Google Maps
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