Lots of opinions, but no formal requests to re-name MacDonald-Cartier high in Sudbury

In the last week, Marc Gauthier's inbox has filled up with opinions about John A. MacDonald.

"Oh yes. Lots of them," says the director of education at theConseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l'Ontario,which includes Ecole Secondaire MacDonald-Cartier in Sudbury.

This after the English elementary teachers union passed a motion calling for MacDonald's name to be stripped from all schools because of his policies on Indigenous peoples, now seen to be racist and colonial.

• He's considered Canada's founding father, but many Ontario teachers want his name stripped from public schools
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MacDonald-Cartierisnamed for the first prime minister, as well as his political ally from Quebec George-Etienne Cartier. Asection of Highway 401 in southern Ontario and the Ottawa international airport are also named for both men, symbolizing the French-English cooperation that led to the founding of the country.

'We're not talking about those people, we're talking about the school'

Gauthier says there have been lots of opinions, but no formal requests to change the name.

"The board hasn't decided anything. Changing the name of a school is a very long process," he says.

Gauthier says as one of the first high schools in northern Ontario that wasn't English or run by the Catholic church, MacDonald-Cartier, which opened in 1969, is a source of pride for many Francophones in the region.

"For a lot of people, when we talk aboutMacDonald-Cartier, we're not talking about those people, we're talking about the school. And the school itself has a history and a lot of significance for the Franco-Ontarian community."

This has been the summer for looking back on history at those who had a hand in the mistreatment of Indigenous people in Canada and the legacy of slavery south of the border.

Retired Laurentian University history professor Dieter Buseand University of Sudbury Indigenous studies professor Brock Pitawanakwat joined host Jason Turnbull in the Morning North studio to discuss this.

Have a listen: