scrubbedexpat091

Seems like an interesting topic some might like to debate about if.

Is it time to change the name of Canada’s westernmost province to something other than British Columbia?

CanadaJimmy

It is horrendously outdated and colonial. I’d be on board with something new. Getting people to accept change is difficult though.

dbd33

To what though, something stoner obviously. MunchieLand? TooChillledToLikeCare? Just THC?

scrubbedexpat091

Change is always hard for people.

As for what to change it to, well that is anyone's guess, but first step is to just open the discussion and go from there.

scilly

Just changing the name, or removing a statue or art work, doesn't really do anything except provide immediate satisfaction. The reason for the change or the removal is hidden from view, and the history of that person or thing will be lost, when it should be remembered so that it never ever happens again..

IMHO, it would be far far better to leave the object up, but add a panel or two about the abhorrent past and why it happened.

Same for BC ..............

we all know, or should, why it was called British Columbia, so which part would you change, and why?

It is far more likely that a discussion that will happen faster is whether BC should leave Canada and join Washington State, Oregon and Northern California as a new unit called Cascadia, with possibly Idaho and/or Southern California added.

scrubbedexpat091

I had no idea where the origins of the name came from, history of British Columbia wasn't taught in So. California, really very little was taught about Canada or the UK in general, most of history classes were about US history with a significant amount of time spent on history of Spanish and Mexico-US history, and Spanish-US history and such, but makes sense only so much time and too much history, and British history really isn't relevant in So. California, nor is Canadian history for that matter.

This is apparently where the name originated form according to the Canadian Government.

"The southern part of the area now known as British Columbia was called “Columbia”, after the Columbia River. The central region was given the name of “New Caledonia” by explorer Simon Fraser. To avoid confusion with Colombia in South America and the island of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean, Queen Victoria named the area British Columbia when it became a colony in 1858."

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-he...lumbia.html#a1

MillieF

No. It’s a good name. Everybody knows where it is. So we were nasty racist colonizers...yeah Oh...and the French (oh yes...nasty racist colonizers, oh...and then we have the Dutch, Germans, Portuguese...and anybody else that thought they might have a chance to subjugate someone. It’s called history. I’m not suggesting it’s something to be proud of...but can’t we just move on? We can’t rewrite history but we don’t have to keep repeating it. Ruwanda, Kosovo and two world wars and countless other fiascos didn’t seem to teach us anything. We aren’t exactly covering ourselves in glory on migration anywhere are we...a quick glance at Turkey, Greece and Calais? Should we start apologizing immediately...or do we need to wait for a hundred years. The human race is pretty crap overall, but isn’t it better that parts of it is starting to try to be better.

Can’t we just reach towards new behaviours instead of this constant hand wringing for past sins?

scot47

Make it Canadian Columbia !

caretaker

It started off with Radishes and Gooseberries in the east, and eventually swallowed up so much land Washington and Oregon were involved, largely because of those nice felt hats. The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay are responsible for much of why and how the colonizers came, so they make a good scapegoat. It's hard not to think of the Bay.
Hudson's Bay Company = HBC = Here Before Christ.
Bennet's Country (no longer applicable)
Bring Cash
British California
there must be tons more.

dave_j

Change always costs money, in this case a great deal.
This gravy train will be driven by parasites who'll expect to profit from this needless campaign.
And.. like so many gravy trains it produces nothing, generates no wealth; it's simply a mechanism to get rich and muddy political waters.
And.. guess who'll be paying for it?
And.. guess who'll be shovelling cash out of your bank account into their's and/or manipulating political unrest?
And.. ask yourselves, who's driving this train and if they're politicians then vote them out?

BristolUK

From past comments on BE something involving Lululemon, rain, yoga, hipster...

From recent news, maybe throw in something to do with guessing blood alcohol levels.

scrubbedexpat091

I'd assume if BC were to change their name, it would likely be something to reflect Native peoples and their historical use of the land, that seems to be the direction being suggested.

Partially discharged

Once again Millie I totally agree with you. It is history, in the past, warts and all but many want to whitewash the past as if it never happened. Personally, if my street, town, city, etc had its name changed it would be interesting to see who would pay for all the name changes..street signs, road signs, city documents, business cards etc. Crazy hand wringing.

dave_j

Absolutely.
I live in a small town called Aldergrove.
I've never liked trees but do like DIY, so I really really wish I could rename it as 36ft-ladder-town.
Any takers?

Engineer_abroad

It’s British Columbia opposed to America Columbia it’s named after the river. How does changing the name make the actual place any better? Would t it be better to spend the money doing something that would actually make a difference?

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-he...-columbia.html