Schools address old names, celebrate new ones

Schools in Winnipeg and Brantford are celebrating their recently announced new names, while a school in Calgary is forming a committee to help determine the future of a school named for former prime minister Sir John A Macdonald. In Winnipeg, Cecil Rhodes School has been renamed Keewatin Prairie Community School. “Keewatin” means “the land of the northwest wind,” while the word “prairie” represents growth and connection. Grand Erie District School Board’s Ryerson Heights Elementary School will be renamed the Edith Monture Elementary School, in honour of the Ohsweken-born World War 1 veteran who became the first Indigenous woman in the country to become a registered nurse and gain the right to vote in Canada. The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) has formed a seven-person committee to review the name of the Sir John A Macdonald School after facing pressure from the community. Several students, who have been inspired by advocacy at other schools across Canada, have called for change.