Saskatoon councillors to debate renaming Traffic Bridge as 'TRC Bridge'

Saskatoon city councillors will be debating whether to rename the newly rebuilt Traffic Bridge after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at a meeting next week.

The city is in the process of finding new names for the Traffic Bridge and the new North Commuter Parkway Bridge.

A special committee in charge of finding new names for the bridges said the name "TRC Bridge" was nominated 24 times throughout the process.

Names were gathered from the community in September and October, in recognition of a name "acknowledging an Aboriginal historical event or figure or a word or concept that embodies the spirit of community, coming together or connection."

A short list would then be created by elders and residential school survivors.

City council voted to name the North Commuter Parkway Bridge in recognition of Aboriginal peoples' history and contributions to Canada in response to the TRC's Calls to Action.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued 94 calls to action asking all levels of government to change policies and programs to repair the harm caused by residential schools and move forward with reconciliation.

The Traffic Bridge opened in 1907 and was closed in 2010 due to public safety concerns before it was rebuilt.

Both the new Traffic Bridge and the North Commuter Parkway are scheduled to open in October 2018.

The issue will be debated at the city's Governance and Priorities Committee on Tuesday.