Pembina Trails trustees vote to study name change for Winnipeg's Ryerson School

This could be one of the last years that Grade 6 students graduate from Ryerson elementary school in south Winnipeg.

A motion to review a name changeforthe school linked to Egerton Ryerson, one of the key architects of Canada's residential school system passed unanimouslyat a Thursday nightmeeting ofthe Pembina Trails School Division board.

The nine-member boardvoted to strike acommitteeto study the name change and report back "as soon as possible."

When what are believed to be the unmarked graves of215 children were discoveredon the grounds at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbiatwo weeks ago,the division knew it was time to revisit the name,superintendent Ted Fransen said Thursday, prior to themeeting.

"The situation in Kamloops was, in a way,the straw that broke the camel's back. We are certainly aware of the history of the name of the schooland we were mindful of the fact that we needed to be sensitive to it," he said.

"So when the Kamloops situation unfolded there was no question in the minds of our trustees, as a school board, that they needed to revisit this."

Senior administrators in the division, parents, community members and even some students also started asking questions about what should be done, Fransen said.

"It was reallya groundswell," he said.

"Students were very quick to pick up on this and to ask their teachers if they could discuss it in class."

Egerton Ryerson the namesake ofRyerson University,Ryerson Press, and the Ontario township of Ryersonwasa prominent figure in the creation of the public education system in that provincebut also a leader in creating separate schools with forced assimilation of Indigenous children.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation estimates, based on death records,at least 4,100 childrendied at the schools from the opening of the first ones in the 1870s until the closure of the last one in1996, but has said the true total is likely much higher.

The outrage over the discovery in Kamloopshas led to a statue of Ryerson,on the Ryerson University campus in Toronto,being covered with red paint and the words"Dig them up" and "215." It was later toppled and the beheaded.

Ryerson University's school of journalism has said it will rename the Ryerson Review of Journalism magazine and The Ryersonian newspaper after conversations with studentswho the school says felt the "horrific legacy" of the residential school system was too great to continue using the name in their mastheads.

Named for local street

As for Winnipeg's Ryerson School, Fransen wanted it to be clear the name comes fromRyerson Avenue, the street in the Fort Richmond neighbourhood where the school was built in 1972.

Theneighbourhood, around the University of Manitoba, has streets named for other universities, including Acadia and Dalhousie.

"So the school would not have been named after Mr. Ryerson," Fransen said. "I was not here when the name was picked, but it would not have been picked because of an appreciation for Ryersonthe person."

Should the board voteto change the name, the division will consultthe community through an online survey to come up with a new name, thenbring it to the board for arecommendation, Fransen said.

He isn't sure the change could be made by the start of the next school year, considering it is already June.

There's been no word from the City of Winnipeg as to whether Ryerson Avenue is being considered for a name change as well.

However, Mayor Brian Bowman has said the time has come on Winnipeg's journey of reconciliation to revisit the name of Bishop GrandinBoulevard.

Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin, a RomanCatholic priest,believed First Nations people needed to be "civilized" andviewed residential schools as theway to accomplish this.

In the late 1800s, helobbied the federal government to fund the construction of theschools, which saw children torn from their families and stripped of their identities inwhat has been decried as a cultural genocide.

Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools, and those who are triggered by the latest reports.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.