Emotions continue to run high as the debate continues on whether to keep or change the Kelly Road Secondary name to Shas Ti once the new school opens in the fall.
On Tuesday, School District 57 carried a motion to “engage in the process of a new name” after a request was made by Lheidli T’enneh elders.
Chief Clay Pountney explained to MyPGNow.com how the whole idea came about.
“We were just kind of putting around ideas of how we can be a piece of that as well. I know that Kelly Road has been around for several decades and the new name change kind of morphed into that we had discussions where the area was used to be tied to when the grizzly bears were there and we know this from our history so why don’t we show people a part of our history.”
Pountney adds the potential name change is a good tie into the Lheidli T’enneh’s history in the area but also understands the concerns raised by everyone.
“It would be nice if people would just ask for the history of some of these places may be first, not everything that is going to be built will have a first nations name but maybe realize that these areas were used by our people for a very long time, we actually want to show our history and this is one piece of it.”
“I know pieces like this make our community proud, we like to see our history showcased all over our territory, which the vast majority of it was used in this area, change is tough but we also want to showcase Kelly Road’s history as well. Moving forward, there is a way to make all of this work.”
A protest of the name change is planned for 10 am on Saturday outside the SD 57 Board Office.
A petition to keep the Kelly Road name continues to gain support, to view the latest results click here.