Columnists
The Stress of Commemoration
When our good friend Bill Wightman died in 2017, we wanted to remember him with the planting of a tree. And eventually, a tree was chosen and planted on the grounds of CML Snider public school, near Main Street. But it took place—albeit with the concurrence of the Hillier and Wellington councillors— in the absence of any County rules about planting a memorial tree.
The urge to recognize someone who has recently passed away by planting a dedicated tree or putting a nameplate on a bench is strong and widespread. So I am pleasantly surprised to see that council is about to adopt a new policy to deal with such commemorations, which will come before Committee of the Whole on Thursday afternoon.
For a fee, paid up front, the County will do its best to put the memorial tree or bench where the client wishes it to go, and maintain the memorial indefinitely. There are some tradeoffs. The size, format and wording of the memorial is up to the County, the County does the installation, and no wreaths or flowers are allowed.
The new policy also codifies the rules pertaining to flying flags on the County flagpole; issuing mayoral proclamations, and giving civic recognition to deserving citizens. Did you know that when the Canadian flag is flown at half mast—as it must be in the case of a death in the Royal family and other dignitaries—the flag must not be flown lower than any other flag? Did you know that there are some 45 days, weeks or months set aside for proclamations already—including the Provincial Day of Action on Litter (May 11) and Miss Supertest Day (November 1). Did you know that the County will establish an “Honour Book,” naming people who have received civic recognition, which will be displayed prominently at Shire Hall?
The County is also proposing at the same time to adopt a commemorative road naming policy, and to establish a task team to generate a list of approved names for the life of the Council, with the public having the opportunity to suggest names.
The task team must choose names that fit into one of several categories—local residents killed in combat or public service; local residents who have made a significant contribution to the County; local Indigenous persons; local flora, fauna and features; and “names of historical significance at a regional, provincial or national level,” with priority given to themes with local significance.
Renaming a street would require 70 per cent of the affected residents to agree. (This means, I think, that the name “Swamp College Road’ will survive any attempt to rename it as the more uptown sounding “Wetlands University Boulevard.”)
Well, you can only go so far into these things until politics rears its head. The commemorations policy expressly states that a commemoration must not be allowed if it contains “commercial, ideological, faith- based beliefs, or political overtones, relates to a cause which is illegal, discriminatory, racist or rooted in hatred or violence, or attempts to influence government policy.” The street naming policy states that a name must not be approved if it is “discriminatory, racist or derogatory,” or if it memorializes an individual “known for discriminatory behaviour and/or beliefs.” Good luck to those who have to decide whether an individual was known for discriminatory beliefs or had a cause that was rooted in hatred.
Doesn’t this just set the table for a rematch over the legacy of Sir. John A. Macdonald, which was fought so bitterly over the Holding Court sculpture and its placement? (The commemoration policy anticipates a continued scrap over that and wants to stay out of it: the policy does not extend to “murals, statues, headstones, monuments, or any other similar installations”).
In this case, the battle has already been won by the forces of revision. Any street named after Sir John A. in 2021 would be objectionable to a significant and vocal chunk of the population. It would be controversial, and by that measure alone would be rejected. In- stead, we’ll have bland names like “Starling Drive” and “Grapevine Crescent” to draw on. What if a name like “Blanding’s Turtle Avenue” came up for discussion: would it be thrown out as too political? Ottawa approved an “Elvis Lives Lane” about 20 years ago, so why not a “Frere Brothers Parkway”: too facetious? There are options.
Call me a scaredy cat if you wish, but I wouldn’t want to have to sit on any committee that deals with commemoration. I haven’t yet recovered from the stress of planting Bill Wightman’s tree.
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