The results are in.
The results in this case being what to call two parks on Cortes Island.
For nearly half a year, residents, service groups and First Nations on Cortes Island have been brainstorming new names for Byers Road/Ferry Park and Whaletown Commons.
At last week’s Thursday meeting of the Strathcona Regional District board, directors got the chance to see what they came up with.
Nine suggestions came back for Byers Road/Ferry Park, and from those, regional district staff narrowed it down to three – Whale’s Rest Shoreline Park, Teck-tum, and Thompson’s Edge Park.
Tom Yates, the regional district’s acting chief administrative officer, suggested Whale’s Rest Shoreline Park as it “may be the most historically and culturally significant, and is considered the most easily identifiable for parks users and the general public.”
At last week’s board meeting, Cortes Director Noba Anderson suggested Shoreline be dropped from the name to make the name less of a mouthful.
Directors were on board with the new name, but Campbell River Director Larry Samson was concerned that First Nations – which, under a new parks naming policy adopted by the regional district board last summer are supposed to be consulted – did not respond.
“I think we have to go over and above in ensuring First Nations are consulted and approached in whatever manner,” Samson said. “As it is with no input from First Nations I will not be supporting the motion.”
But Anderson said the Klahoose First Nation on Cortes has been approached and the regional district has yet to hear back.
“I’ve been very adamant about engaging First Nations on this,” Anderson said. “I met with Klahoose over a year ago on this, staff has engaged on multiple occasions. I was under the impression the Klahoose have, at this point, no intention of responding to this. They have other priorities.”
According to a staff report, staff sent three requests for input to the Klahoose that elicited no response. The Homalco First Nation was also approached but deferred comment to the Klahoose.
In the end, the board approved renaming the park Whale’s Rest Park, which Anderson said is in honour of the historic use of the area for whaling and recognizes the whales that still frequent the bay.
“It’s a nod to the slaughter of whales that happened in the late 1800s,” Anderson said. “In two whaling seasons we killed all the whales in the whole region.”
As for the second park, Whaletown Commons, the board agreed to keep that name as is.
Residents of Cortes, Friends of Cortes Island and the Cortes museum all wished to retain the original name.
The Klahoose First Nation did not respond to three requests for comment and the Cortes Island Business and Tourism and Whaletown Community Club both did not respond to two requests each for comment. The Homalco First Nation again deferred comment to the Klahoose.
A staff report by Aniko Nelson, parks and planning manager for the regional district, and Ralda Hansen, community services manager, said the name carries a lot of significance in the community
“The name has longstanding community recognition and is culturally significant,” they wrote. “The name was arrived at initially through extensive public process during the park acquisition and has been referred to as Whaletown Commons since that time.”