Members of the Prince Edward Island Legislature voted unanimously on Friday to ask the federal government to change the name of the Confederation Bridge to Epekwitk Crossing. Epekwitk is the Mi’kmaq word for “something in the water” and is the traditional name Mi’kmaq people have long used to describe the island. “It’s a very important step for us in the process that we have begun in the process of reconciliation, forgiveness and understanding,” said Prime Minister Dennis King, who presented a proposal backed by Peter Bevan-Baker, leader of the opposition Green Party. “It’s that the Mi’kmaq want to reconnect with this sense of place that has been taken away from them for so long.” The proposal states that “it is of the utmost importance that indigenous languages be respected and recognized”, adding that 2022 is the International Decade of Indigenous Language. “Renaming the Confederation Bridge to the Epekwitk Crossing is a way for Prince Edward Island and Canada to show commitment to defending the rights of the natives, which are protected by the Constitution.” The proposal also cites the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which in its 2015 report on the country’s infamous school system advised the federal government to promote indigenous languages as a “fundamental and valuable element of Canadian culture.” King said the original idea for the renaming came from PEI senators Brian Francis and Percy Downe. Francis is the former leader of the Nation Abegweit Mi’kmaq and the first person from the PEI to serve in the Senate. “Prince Edward Island is recognized and celebrated as the birthplace of the Canadian Confederation,” Francis said in a statement Friday. “However, few recognize that this project was costly for the indigenous peoples … The renaming of the bridge … would serve to honor Mi’kmaq’s strength and resilience as well as to promote greater awareness and understanding of the a separate identity and our culture “. Meanwhile, the Toris prime minister said he had already asked Federal Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs Dominique LeBlanc to determine the next steps in the name change. In Charlottetown, several members of the legislature stood in the assembly house to speak in favor of the proposal, saying the new name would reflect the county’s commitment to reconciliation. “At Epekwitk, we take reconciliation seriously,” said Karla Bernard, a Greens member for Charlottetown-Victoria Park. “This is a really special opportunity and I want to thank the three leaders in this house who brought it forward.” Lynne Lund, Green member for Summerside-Wilmot, said there was once a systematic attempt to erase the history and language of the island’s First Nations. “If you unpack the history of the Mi’kmaq people in PEI and the indigenous peoples across the country, you will see that they have gone through a history of watching everything be renamed,” he told the legislature. “Indian agents even had the power to rename people, if you can wrap your mind around it …. We have to remember what was taken. We have to remember that the ancestral names have been lost.” The 12.9-kilometer PEI Bridge to New Brunswick was completed in 1997 after four years of construction. The people of Mi’kmaq have lived on the island for 12,000 years. In the early 1990s, a committee sought public input and advised the federal government to name the Abegweit Crossing Bridge, which is the English, colonial term for Epekwitk. But the commission also provided two alternatives, the Confederate Bridge and the Northumberland Strait Bridge. Ottawa selected the Confederation Bridge on September 27, 1996. This Canadian Press report was first published on April 29, 2022. – By Michael MacDonald in Halifax.
