Changin’ times means changin’ signs

The Halifax Regional Municipality is moving forward with a review of plans to change how they determine names of streets, parks, and other civic infrastructure to highlight under-represented groups in the city’s heritage.

On Oct. 28, council unanimously voted to review amendments to the city’s 2010 naming policies. The amendments stem from recommendations made in 2020, by a task force to commemorate Indigenous history in the city. The policy now includes other equity-deserving groups including 2SLGBTQIA+, newcomers and immigrants, and people with disabilities.

Changes include increasing representation of other languages including Mi’kmaq and French, revising incorrect spelling, removing names that “no longer reflect the values of the municipality,” and naming places after culturally significant events, place, or people. For example, Carmichael Street is expected to be renamed Kate Carmichael Street.

“Specifically, there will be targeted engagement with the Mi’kmaq community, with the Acadian community, with African Nova Scotian groups,” said Marie Aikenhead, a representative of the city’s planning department.

In 2020 and 2021 motions were passed unanimously to rename places using “Micmac” or “Indian,” including the renaming of Micmac Boulevard, the Micmac Transit Terminal, Micmac Court, and Micmac Street, among others.

According to Aikenhead, city staff are now working to finalize the naming policy and are researching similar policies that already exist in other cities.

Aikenhead expects changes to happen in 2026.

According to urban anthropologist and Dalhousie associate professor Martha Radice, the renaming of Carmichael Street is important because it challenges the assumption that Carmichael was a man.

“Men have historically had more status and have gotten more things named after them in the past,” said Radice.

“I think it’s really important for us to try and reframe the way we see the environment around us, and to learn about the much older history of settlement and stewardship here that the Mi’kmaq people represent, have been doing and still do for millennia.”

But, says Radice, “it’s a bit double-edged to call it Kate Carmichael (street) or Nora Bernard (street), because in a way it’s pandering to the assumption that everyone else is a man.”