The original capital city of British Columbia is undergoing changes, as it seeks to move away from its colonial past.
New Westminster City Council voted 6-1 on Monday night to end the city’s longtime nickname as the “Royal City”.
Founded in 1858 in the territory of the Kayakat First Nation by the head of a detachment of Royal Engineers, New Westminster was given its name Queen Victoria – the source of its royal surname.
But outgoing mayor Jonathan Cote, who proposed the change, said the city of the 21st century has left its 19th century branding behind.
“As the city has really started to engage in our work on reconciliation over the past four years, that’s when we really started to see discrepancies with our branding,” Cote said.
“It’s something that’s been on my mind for the past few years, so for me I think the timing is right.”
This is not the first time the city has discussed dropping the “royal” surname. Cote said the council had debated the idea two decades ago, but the community was not ready at the time.
New Westminster has become increasingly diverse since then, he said, and the time is right to develop an identity that is more reflective of its residents.
Sticking with the old nickname, he said, sent the wrong message to the First Nations as well.
“When I send a letter to an indigenous nation or indigenous partners as mayor and we’ve got a colonial crown on letterhead, it’s not okay,” Cote said.
“As a city that wants to have a good conversation about reconciliation, I think branding matters.”
This is not the first time New Westminster has made changes in the interest of reconciliation. In 2019 the city removed a statue of BC’s first Chief Justice John Begby from the plaza outside the New Westminster Courthouse.
Begby, known as the ‘Ganging Judge’, oversaw the punishment and death sentence awarded to six Tsilhakot’in chiefs during the so-called Chilkotin War – Canada has since apologized for an action,
Not everyone is supporting dropping the Royal City moniker.
Chuck Puchmeyer, who voted against the count change, said the timing of the rebranding was not appropriate, and the quick decision left many residents out of the process.
“I thought that at the 11th hour of the city council’s four-year term, it was an unfair proposal at the time,” Puchmeyer said.
“I believe that something of this nature needs a really full, in-depth consultation. You need all the players in the community to have a voice.”
With municipal elections due in October and quotas not seeking re-election, Puchmeyer said the moniker change threatened to divert attention from other issues of overweight during the upcoming campaign.
“(It) is a parting gift grenade which is going to be a contentious issue in the next election,” he said.
“We are short of staff in engineering, in bylaws, planning staff getting projects in the ground that will generate revenue for the city, these are all very important pieces. I don’t want to delay any further and we are already Those capabilities are suffering.”
In the short term, city employees will begin to eliminate the crown and “Royal City” branding from official New Westminster materials, something which Coates said will be relatively inexpensive.
He said the more difficult and costly the process would be to choose a new branding for the city.
Cote said he expects the process to take several years to fully consult with the community.
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