By Staff
June 18th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
I recently received correspondence from the Chair of the Board of the Halton District School Board (HDSB) notifying me that the Trustees, at their June 16, 2021 meeting, approved a motion to rename Ryerson Public School on Woodview Road in Burlington in accordance with the Board’s Naming and Renaming Schools Policy and Governance Procedure.
A city-owned park adjacent to the school also bears the Ryerson name.
The Mayor is now ashamed of the man who created the public education system that has served everyone very well.
The statue to commemorate the man who created the public school system in Ontario was first defaced and then toppled
Ryerson Public School and adjacent Ryerson Park are named after Egerton Ryerson for his contributions to the Ontario education system, however, Ryerson was also instrumental in the design of Canada’s Residential School system. In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada concluded this assimilation amounted to the genocide of Indigenous peoples.
The City of Burlington is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, and the names we choose for our municipal properties must reflect that commitment – both going forward, and in retrospect. As part of that commitment, Burlington City Council recently unanimously endorsed the Halton Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Charter produced by the Halton Equity and Diversity Roundtable. We have also recently updated our naming policies to ensure equity, diversity and inclusion is integrated in all our asset naming.
There have been growing calls to remove Ryerson’s name from public buildings and institutions, including Ryerson University in Toronto, where a report on the matter is expected to come before their president and board of directors this fall.
I support the change the HDSB is making and the reasons behind it.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward
As part of our continued commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, I am working with City of Burlington staff to bring forward a report to Committee and City Council in July 2021 recommending removing the Ryerson name from our park and embarking on the council-approved naming process. We expect this process to be complete by November 2021. We will keep you updated on this process and opportunities for members of the public, including the HDSB, to provide input.
Our Indigenous community needs to enjoy our parks and public spaces without a reminder of one of the architects of the Residential School system and the legacy of harm it created for their people. Renaming our city park is one step we can take toward reconciliation with our Indigenous residents.
Much of the information posted here regarding Ryerson comes from his followers, Eurocentric perspectives on history. I acknowledge the contributions that he made to society, but those positive contributions do not outweigh his negative contributions. I guess that would depend on wether you are Indigenous or not. His part of history will never be lost, it will remain in books for all of time, maybe within a new context. It is not about removing or expunging history. The difference is in acknowledging or elevating individuals in history.
Hopefully we are all committed as a community to making decisions based on having all the facts good and bad. The Mayor is but one voice and has but one opinion. When all the schools, hospitals, museums, parks, and streets are renamed, there will be no reminders of the history and events that preceeded us, that serve the purpose of teaching and reminding us of our human, frailities, foibles and failngs. “Disregard for the past will never do us any good. Without it we cannot know truly who we are.”― Syd Moore
If we remove Ryerson, what is the justification for not removing Joseph Brant or (Thayendanegea)?
My take, neither should be removed or renamed.
“Ryerson Public School and adjacent Ryerson Park are named after Egerton Ryerson for his contributions to the Ontario education system, however, Ryerson was also instrumental in the design of Canada’s Residential School system.”
Except for the fact that Ryerson contributed only 5 pages of rough notes to what he wanted called “Industrial Schools” (Type 1 on residential schools) and those were completely optional schools after indigenous completed primary school locally. These were approved by 30 local chiefs at the time, with the express mission to teach people to run farms in order to maintain indigenous culture in farming communities.
Well after his death the British then Canadian governments produced a completely new school system (Type 2) with the design to “assimilate” indigenous and destroy indigenous culture.
The confusion is that two totally different systems ended up called the same thing.
Also Ryerson spent 2 plus years living and farming with the Mississauga people, learned to speak the indigenous language, was adopted by the tribe, was given the honored name of a recently deceased chief by that tribe “Cheechock”, fought against the theft of the Mississauga lands, etc …
This is all the unchallenged historical record as far as I can see.
But you know it’s easier to repeat gibberish you read in op-eds that look any to anything.
Fyi. MacDonald is a different story.
Thank-you Greg, I was about to post the same information. I was reading this historical account over the weekend. Looks a bit different when all the facts are open for scrutiny. Sadly, the mindless vandals at Ryerson University didn’t care about the facts, only their narrative.
Thanks Phillip,
If you take guff from people, I just direct them to the copy of what Ryerson wrote back as to what Type 1 Industrial schools should be. Ends off:
“It would be a gratifying result to see graduates of our Indian Industrial schools become overseers of some of the largest farms in Canada, nor will it be less gratifying to see them industrious and prosperous framers on their own account.”
https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Ryerson-Report.pdf
Greg,
I think we better forward this historical content to the trustees of the HDSB including Andrea Grebenc, a leading candidate to become the Liberal candidate for the provincial riding of Burlington, who are falling all over themselves in their PC haste to remove Ryerson from the school that bears his name.
Please do Phillip. 🙂
Hans.
Very well said. The truth no longer matters. This Mayor and others will slander anybody and re-write history to get elected. Regardless of the truth. Thank you for pointing this out.
Yes, rename it, using the name of the area. I’ve often wondered why Canada, in particular Ontario has felt some kind of obligation to name so many public schools and other public buildings after people. It’s not done nearly to the same extent in the UK. The huge Melville statue (Henry Dundas) in Edinburgh has been replaqued temporarily, explaining Dundas’ involvement in the slave trade, while a permanent plaque is prepared.
Re: “Ryerson was also instrumental in the design of Canada’s Residential School system”.
A recent Toronto Star column in the “debate” section challenged Ryerson’s link to the damage caused by that system very convincingly and even cited the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings, creating some doubt that Ryerson was the villain that he is currently made out to be.
While I don’t like naming public assets after people or putting up statues, perhaps better proof should be presented before reputations are damaged.
Once again I ask. Will Joseph Brant Hospital along with the Joseph Brant Museum change their name? Historic records indicate that Joseph Brant had slaves. It seems to me that this needs to be addressed.
As the mayor said ” Our Indigenous community needs to enjoy our parks and public spaces without a reminder of one of the architects of the Residential School system and the legacy of harm it created for their people”.
Should this not apply to people of colour as well? This is a very slippery slope.
My question – Is it better to keep the statues and put in place information both good and bad what the person is known for, or eliminating the statues, etc. and pretend that this never happened?
The logical conclusion of cancel culture is that everything in the world will eventually just have a number, until even certain numbers become a trigger for some past association.
Excellent comment Penny. In many respects this politically-correct removal of names and tearing down of statues is very much like the old “batchelor” clean up strategy–sweeping the dirt under the rug so you can’t see it may look cleaner but in fact the dirt is still there.
Rename it Woodview Park, never a safe bet to name anything after a person, past or present.