The Township of Russell will rededicate its identity to a new person bearing the Russell name after a public campaign to disassociate the small eastern Ontario town with an 18th-century slave owner.
Amid a surge of support for the Black Lives Matter movement and efforts to address systemic racism across Canada in recent months, a grassroots campaign emerged to disconnect the town, located southeast of Ottawa, from its racist heritage.
Russell council voted Monday evening to approve Mayor Pierre Leroux’s proposal to shift the Ontario township’s namesake from Peter Russell, an Upper Canada administrator and known slave owner who sought to prolong slavery in the region.
Leroux’s solution attempts to strike a compromise between those that sought to have the name thrown out and others who felt an historic government official with little connection to the town itself has no bearing on the values held in Russell today.
But some say racism in Russell goes beyond its name.
Cait Dignard, a Black former resident of the town who now lives in Ottawa, told Global News last month that the racism and microaggressions she faced growing up in Russell were part of what drove her and her family away.
She dismissed attempts to fix underlying issues in the community through a rededication of the name, calling it a “Band-Aid” solution.
While Leroux said his solution would help satisfy businesses in the town that have built their brands on the Russell name, Dignard saw the argument as a way to avoid putting resources towards addressing systemic racism.
“The township of Russell would rather just not spend money. And it hurts me to know that money is worth more than Black lives and safety and pain,” she said.
Council’s motion included a line to denounce Peter Russell and his values and acknowledged that a name closely associated with a slaver could be “hurtful and disrespectful” to residents.
Russell council approved the establishment of a vetting committee to helm the search for a new namesake. The community is invited to provide suggestions, with the caveat being that any potential suitor must have the first, middle or last name Russell.
Council also struck a new advisory committee on diversity, equity and inclusion to ensure the town better represents its residents.