‘The Trump of his time’: Movement to change Victoria street named after colonial B.C. politician

Close to 100 people attended a public meeting in Victoria on Tuesday night to discuss a short street with a long history.

Victoria’s Trutch Street is named after Sir Joseph William Trutch, who served as B.C.’s Chief Commissioner of Land and Works before the province joined Confederation in 1871.

After joining Confederation, he became B.C’s first lieutenant–governor.

B.C. is home to some of Canada’s smallest First Nations land reserves because of Trutch’s role in reducing their size.

He once described the Indigenous people of the Oregon Territory as “the ugliest and laziest creatures I ever saw.”

“He in some ways was the Trump of his time with respect to Indigenous policies,” Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt said at the meeting.

One person who attended Tuesday’s meeting, which was organized by the Indigenous Solidarity Working Group, said changing the name of the street “would be a great way to start the healing journey for truth and reconciliation.”

Trutch Street resident Lindsay Pope, who had concerns about changing the name, said she had a change of heart after learning “what an absolutely horrible human being” Trutch was.

The two-block residential street is home to Trutch’s former residence, which is now a heritage building.

Critics say renaming the street would mean erasing history and could lead to a slippery slope of removing more names and even buildings.

The City of Victoria has yet to receive a proposal to rename.

In 2013, the City of Vancouver received a request to rename Trutch Street on the city’s west side.

The request was denied, but the city has launched a process of possibly renaming some city streets in part to recognize Indigenous communities.