Former Cornwallis Street renamed after Mi’kmaq activist, residential school survivor
Halifax officially has a new street name.
The former Cornwallis Street is now Nora Bernard Street, named after the Mi’kmaq activist and residential school survivor.
“It’s just incredible, it means so much,” says her daughter, Natalie MacLeod Gloade.
Bernard led the largest class action lawsuit in Canadian history in support of 79,000 other survivors. The Canadian government settled for nearly $5 billion dollars.
“I’m so proud and honoured that Halifax has stepped up to the plate and making history. This is history, this is a historical event,” says MacLeod Gloade.
City officials previously set up a task force to look at steps toward reconciliation with First Nations communities.
The renaming of Cornwallis Street was on the list. Edward Cornwallis was the controversial governor of Nova Scotia.
“If we were really going to stick to our words about reconciliation, we need to listen to what is being said. The other piece of it is it feels really great when we can acknowledge folks who have really made a difference,” councillor Lindell Smith says.
“I thought it was important that we had a more public facing process because they had a recommendation for the street name, but I thought it would be important to really garner community support.”
Smith says the task force received 3,000 suggestions. Nora Bernard Street received the vast majority of the votes.
“It’s a positive step forward,” says Chief Bob Gloade of the Millbrook First Nation. “It’s a way to remember and remember Nora Bernard in the hard work she’s done. “
Gloade says Bernard’s community of Millbrook First Nation will take another step toward immortalizing Bernard. Plans are underway to erect a statue and to rename a community hall in her honour.
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
W5 Investigates A 'ticking time bomb': Inside Syria's toughest prison holding accused high-ranking ISIS members
In the last of a three-part investigation, W5's Avery Haines was given rare access to a Syrian prison, where thousands of accused high-ranking ISIS members are being held.
'Mayday!': New details emerge after Boeing plane makes emergency landing at Mirabel airport
New details suggest that there were communication issues between the pilots of a charter flight and the control tower at Montreal's Mirabel airport when a Boeing 737 made an emergency landing on Wednesday.
Federal government posts $13B deficit in first half of the fiscal year
The Finance Department says the federal deficit was $13 billion between April and September.
Weather warnings for snow, wind issued in several parts of Canada
Winter is less than a month away, but parts of Canada are already projected to see winter-like weather.
Canadian news publishers suing ChatGPT developer OpenAI
A coalition of Canadian news publishers is suing OpenAI for using news content to train its ChatGPT generative artificial intelligence system.
Cucumbers sold in Ontario, other provinces recalled over possible salmonella contamination
A U.S. company is recalling cucumbers sold in Ontario and other Canadian provinces due to possible salmonella contamination.
Nick Cannon says he's seeking help for narcissistic personality disorder
Nick Cannon has spoken out about his recent diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder, saying 'I need help.'
BREAKING Supreme Court affirms constitutionality of B.C. law on opioid health costs recovery
Canada's top court has affirmed the constitutionality of a law that would allow British Columbia to pursue a class-action lawsuit against opioid providers on behalf of other provinces, the territories and the federal government.
Real GDP per capita declines for 6th consecutive quarter, household savings rise
Statistics Canada says the economy grew at an annualized pace of one per cent during the third quarter, in line with economists' expectations.