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Welcome to Tyee’s reader poll.

Tyee Poll: Should We Rename Vancouver’s Racist Streets, and If So, Whom Should We Honour?

In 2012, the City of Vancouver created an advisory group, the Civic Asset Naming Committee, to tackle the issue of place naming (and renaming) and work to reflect the diversity of Vancouver in its place names.

The city’s renaming policy was only introduced in 2018, but the committee has received several requests over the years to rename streets like Trutch St. that honour racist figures.

Trutch is one of the most famous bigots honoured with a street sign in Vancouver. As chief commissioner of lands and works for colonial B.C., he led the effort to dramatically reduce the size of Indigenous reserves because he believed that Indigenous people “had to be relieved of as much land as possible, so that it could be ‘properly’ and ‘efficiently’ used by Europeans.” This action had negative repercussions for B.C. First Nations, which continue to this day.

The Tyee listed other streets and places named after bigots and racists in this story. Since its publication, some readers have suggested that Vancouver shouldn’t change its names, as they are part of our history. Others support the renaming process.

We’re wondering what you think. Should Vancouver rename its streets and places that honour racist figures?

* Please note that all poll answers will be publicly viewable, but anonymous.

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Please note that Tyee Barometer polls are only intended as a quick and engaging non-scientific snapshot of our readers' opinions on various topics that fit with The Tyee's very broad editorial mandate. They are not intended to be seen as a representative sampling of BC opinion.

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