Vancouver mayor looks to change street named after colonial B.C. politician Sir Joseph Trutch

The mayor of Vancouver says he will bring forward a motion to change the name of a street on the city’s west side named after a colonial B.C. politician.

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.

2:00 Debate over renaming Victoria streets

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

Trutch held views about Indigenous people now widely criticized as racist, and once described the Indigenous people of the Oregon Territory as “the ugliest and laziest creatures I ever saw.”

In a statement to Global News, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said he is looking to change the name of Trutch Street.

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“I have spoken with Musqueam leadership about renaming Trutch Street and am in full support,” he said.

“Joseph Trutch actively worked to marginalize Indigenous people and seize their lands. That’s why I will be bringing forward a motion at the next council meeting to have the name changed. There have been calls to do this for at least a decade and it’s long past time to act.”

A similar debate to change the name of Trutch Street in Victoria took place in 2018.

An online petition was recently launched to rename the Victoria street, which stretches from Richardson Street to Fairfield Road.

— with files from Simon Little