The NCC will vote this month on new name for SJAM Parkway
Posted Jun 9, 2023 04:22:43 PM.
Last Updated Jun 9, 2023 04:28:35 PM.
A consensus has been reached on what to rename the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway — Kichi Zibi Mikan.
In a letter from the National Capital Commission (NCC) addressed to Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Chief Dylan Whiteduck, CEO Tobi Nussbaum recommended an unveiling ceremony be planned for the fall if the board approved the name at its upcoming meeting on June 22.
Kichi Zibi means ‘great river’ in the Algonquin language, and that would later become the basis of the name for the Ottawa River, while Mikan is a traditional Algonquin word meaning “road” or “path”.
Communities had consulted over the renaming process in the winter and spring of 2023.
“I am grateful for the participation of community members from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg as well as from Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation. I am thankful for the generosity of the participants, who shared views, stories and cultural references about the area, highlighting the profound connection to the Algonquin Anishinabeg maintain with the river and surroundings,” Nussbaum said
In June 2021, three Ottawa city councillors wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, urging the federal government to rename the parkway.
Macdonald helped create the residential school system while he was Prime Minister in the late 1800’s.
