City ward that honoured 19th-century slave owner could soon have new name

Six city wards in Ottawa are slated to get new names, including one that referencesa 19th-century British slave owner with no apparent ties to Canada.

Late last year, council approved a decision to redraw the city's electoral boundariesand include another ward. Thenew voting map now includes24 wards 12 urban, nine suburban and three rural.

The new names are designed to reflect geographical areas and identifiable communities, while keeping the naming conventions used for existing wards, according to theOttawa Ward Boundary Review 2020 report.

One of the wards being rechristenedis Rideau-Goulbourn, where Coun. Scott Moffatt has pushed for a different name since discovering it commemorated Sir Henry Goulburn,a British statesman and senior cabinet minister who was also the absentee owner of a plantation in Jamaica.

• Black leaders back councillor's bid to change ward's name

"I think it's important that we understand what a name signifies or what it means to certain people, and that we recognize how it can make people feel," said Moffatt, who has been referring to Rideau-Goulbourn as "Ward 21" since learning of its origins.

The new name suggestedfor Moffatt's ward is Rideau-Jock, which pays homage to the river that runs through the area.

Moffatt said the general consensus was that the renaming process would steer clear of commemorating any individual.

Other ward name changes include:

• Orlans, which would be renamed Orlans East-Cumberland.
• Innes, which wouldnow be named Orlans West-Innes.
• Cumberland, which wouldbe renamed Orlans South-Navan.
• Gloucester-South Nepean, which wouldbe renamed Riverside South-Findlay Creek.

The existingBarrhavenward is slated to be renamedBarrhaven West, according to the report, while the city's newest ward will be called Barrhaven East.

Indigenous name suggested

Sarah Onyango, a board member with Black History Ottawa, said she would have preferred Rideau-Goulbourn be renamed after the people whose land it originally belonged to.

"I would much rather that ward get an Indigenous name of some kind," Onyango said. "I understand they want to name it Rideau-Jock, but name it after the original inhabitants of the land."

Moffatt said the plan was to keep the new name simple and not to deviate too much from the existing name. But he says the city might actually have that conversation next term, as city staff plan to take another look at ward names through an Indigenous lens.

• Ward boundary changes appealed by community groups

The city's finance and economic development committee is slated to discuss the ward names Oct. 5.

The renamed wards could become officialby January 2022, well before the next municipal election in October 2022. The city plans to launch a public education campaign on the changes along with the new 24th ward in the spring.