Municipal staff reviewing suggestions for Halifax street’s new name

Municipal staff are reviewing thousands of submissions hooked to the planned renaming of Cornwallis Street on peninsular Halifax.

Staff said recently 3,304 new street name suggestions were proposed by 2,588 respondents. Each participant could submit as many recommendations as they wanted via online survey, email and phone.
 
Halifax Regional Municipality posted its online survey in early October. 

Proposed new names could be filed until Nov. 12.

All submissions “are currently being reviewed by . . . staff, as well as local councillors, in accordance with civic addressing policies,” municipal spokesperson Klara Needler said Dec. 14 via email.

“Proposed street names must meet existing street naming policies and public safety considerations,” she said. “Therefore, any street name suggestions that are the same, or similar, to an existing street in the municipality will not be eligible.”

A survey-related notice on HRM’s website says “the municipality encourages suggestions that reflect the goal of reconciliation.”

It says new names proposed to replace Cornwallis Street will be “evaluated based on appropriateness, cultural significance, diversity and originality.” A short list of potential names will be drawn up.

Needler said of the 3,304 submissions, municipal staff received 678 street name suggestions that were commemorative names of people.

These 678 were “complete applications with all required information needed for the commemorative naming process,” she said. The  municipality’s application form includes applicable criteria,” background information and other details that must be submitted.

More public engagement linked to renaming Cornwallis Street is to take place in 2022.

“The final step will include a staff report brought to regional council for deliberation and a decision,” the municipality’s website says.

Cornwallis Street was named for Halifax’s colonial founder, Edward Cornwallis, a British military leader who was governor of Nova Scotia in the 1700s. His legacy has long been a bone of contention in the Halifax region.

Following the direction of Halifax regional council, the street renaming project came out of the report from the Task Force on the Commemoration of Edward Cornwallis and the Recognition of Indigenous History, the municipality’s website says.

The report was approved by council in 2020; two series of public input sessions were held the previous year.

One of the report’s 20 recommendations advised city hall to rename Cornwallis Street after a local African-Nova Scotian church, established in 1832. That suggestion was amended to include community consultation on the name change.

The house of worship, New Horizons Baptist Church, changed its name from Cornwallis Street Baptist Church in 2018 following a vote by church members. A school in Halifax and Canadian Coast Guard ship, also formerly named for Cornwallis, have been renamed, too.

Needler said the next round of public consultation is set for the spring, when “residents across the municipality (can) vote on the (street) names that were shortlisted.”

It’s expected Halifax council will consider the Cornwallis Street renaming matter in late 2022, she told CityNews Halifax, but the timeline could be extended.

Halifax Regional Municipality has about 6,000 streets, its website says. According to a 2015 staff report, the municipal charter allows Halifax council to name and rename any street or private road.

Michael Lightstone is a freelance reporter living in Dartmouth