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The bridge was a focal point during the pandemic, with long queues of cars blocking the passage to Canada’s Atlantic residents – just a “bubble”
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April 29, 2022 • 10 hours ago • 2 minutes reading • 289 comments File photo of the Confederate Bridge that connects PEI with New Brunswick. Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS / Andrew Vaughn
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CHARLOTHETON – Members of the Prince Edward Island Legislature voted unanimously on Friday to ask the federal government to change the name of the Epekwitk Crossing Confederation bridge.
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Epekwitk is the word Mi’kmaq for “something lying in the water” and it is the traditional name that the people of Mi’kmaq have long used to describe the island.
“This is a great opportunity,” said PEI Prime Minister Dennis King, who submitted a proposal backed by Peter Bevan-Baker, leader of the opposition Green Party. “I’m excited about the process and I’m excited about what’s coming.”
The proposal says that “it is crucial that local languages are respected and recognized”, adding that 2022 is the International Decade for the Local Language.
“The renaming of the Confederate Bridge to Epekwitk Crossing is one way Prince Edward Island and Canada have shown a commitment to protecting the rights of indigenous peoples, which are protected by the Constitution.
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The proposal also cites the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which in its landmark 2015 report on the country’s housing school system recommended that the federal government promote indigenous languages as a “fundamental and valuable element of Canadian culture”.
Several members of the legislature stood in the House of Commons to speak in support of the proposed change, saying the new name would reflect the province’s commitment to reconciliation.
“At Epekwitk, we take reconciliation seriously,” said Carla Bernard, a member of the Charlottetown-Victoria Park Greens. “This is a really special opportunity and I want to thank the three leaders in this house for bringing this forward.”
Lynn Lund, a member of the Summerside-Wilmot Greens, said there had once been a systematic effort to erase the history and language of the island’s first nations.
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“If you unpack the history of the Mikmak people of the PEI and the indigenous people across the country, you will see that they have gone through a history of watching the renaming of everything,” she told the legislature.
“Indian agents even had the power to rename people, if you can think about it… We need to remember what was taken. We must remember that the names of our ancestors have been lost. “
The Mikmak people have lived on the island for 12,000 years.
The 12.9-kilometer bridge connecting PEI to New Brunswick was completed in 1997 after four years of construction, using crews of more than 5,000 local workers, the website said.
It is one of the longest bridges in the world, crossing ice-covered water, and one of the best engineering achievements of Canada in the 20th century.
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This was a focal point during the pandemic, with long queues of cars obstructing the crossing of the bridge to the “bubble” only for residents of Atlantic Canada.
Its construction has also sparked controversy, with PEI residents divided over how easier access to the island, which was previously only accessible by ferry, will affect their way of life. The debate was resolved during the 1988 plebiscite elections. A small majority – 59.4% of islanders – said yes.
In the early 1990s, a commission sought public opinion and recommended that the federal government name the bridge the Abegweit Crossing, which is the English colonial term for Epekwitk.
But the commission also provided two alternatives, the Confederate Bridge and the Northumberland Strait Bridge. Ottawa elected the Confederate Bridge on September 27, 1996.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on April 29, 2022.
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