PEI Legislature calls for Confederation Bridge to be renamed Epekwitk Crossing | CBC News

Epekwitk, pronounced ehb-uh-gwihdis the original name given by the Mi’kmaq to the land now known as Prince Edward Island.

In his comments on the motion, formally known as Motion 116, King thanked PEI Senators Brian Francis and Percy Downe for their work on the motion, as well as opposition parties for their support.

“Prince Edward Island is recognized and celebrated as the birthplace of the Canadian Confederation. Yet few recognize that this project came at great cost to indigenous peoples,” Francis said in a press release. “From 1867 onwards, we became the target of a violent process of dispossession, displacement, exploitation and elimination, which continues to impact our lives to this day.

“Renaming the bridge ‘Epekwitk Crossing’ would serve to honor the strength and resilience of the Mi’kmaq.”

The motion said it is of “utmost importance” to recognize indigenous languages. It coincides with the first year of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, which draws attention to their loss due to colonialism and other factors.

“Renaming the bridge can play an important role in acknowledging the true history of our province and show that we are working together to promote lasting reconciliation between the Mi’kmaq and all Islanders and Canadians,” Downe said at the release.

In conversations about next steps

When the bridge was built in the 1990s, a committee recommended that it be called Abegweit Crossing (Abegweit is the English version of Epekwitk) based on public proposals, but that name was not chosen by the federal government. The other options were the Confederation Bridge and the Northumberland Strait Bridge.

King says he has been in talks with the federal minister for intergovernmental affairs, Dominic LeBlanc, about next steps.

“Changing the name of the Confederation Bridge to Epektwik Crossing is a way for Prince Edward Island and Canada to show their commitment to upholding the rights of Indigenous Peoples, which are protected by the Constitution,” the motion reads.

King said that the name Abegweit is “entrenched in all of our lives without even us knowing it.”

He referenced the former Abegweit Ferry, the former Charlottetown Abegweit Club, and the Charlottetown Abbies hockey team as examples.

“Thinking about how we can take that connection from all those years into the future and put that name back on the connection that we have with the continent, where it’s so deserving, I think that’s…very important.” step to use the process that we have undertaken towards reconciliation, towards forgiveness and a better understanding.