Welcome to šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street: Vancouver's newest street name is also its first using alphabet other than English
Vancouver's newest street name is set to be the city's first officially named in an alphabet other than English: šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street.
The new name, which comes from the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language of the Musqueam First Nation, will replace Trutch Street on Vancouver's West Side if city council approves a staff report at a meeting next week.
The report says the Musqueam First Nation has long advocated for removing the name of B.C.'s first lieutenant-governor, Joseph Trutch, from the street as a way to 'acknowledge Trutch's racist legacy, reduce the prominence of his name, and advance reconciliation efforts.'
Trutch denied the existence of Inidegnous rights and reduced the size of reserve lands, the city website says, and the politician is now 'acknowledged as being openly racist and hostile to First Nation Peoples.'
In July 2021, Vancouver's then-mayor Kennedy Stewart proposed removing the Trutch name and choosing another picked by the Musqueam chief and council, a move that was unanimously supported by council. In September 2022, the Musqueam Nation, or xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, provided the name 'šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street,' which translated into English as 'Musqueamview Street.'
Some Vancouver neighbourhoods, including Chinatown and the Punjabi Market, have street signs featuring other languages along with the official street name, such as Pender or Main Street. The difference in the new proposal would be that šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm will be the street's sole official name.
'In accordance with xʷməθkʷəy̓əm wishes, the legal name of the street will be solely šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street, making this Vancouver's first street named in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓,' the city report says. 'With no fluent speakers left, this change is a landmark moment for the revitalization of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm language, weaving the display of hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ into the public fabric of city life.'
Because this is the first Vancouver street named in an alphabet other than English, the city requested input from several entities, including the city's legal department, Vancouver Police Department, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services, B.C. Emergency Health Services, and others.
Emergency service providers raised concerns about 'way-finding and ease of pronunciation for callers in distress on the street,' the report states. To address these concerns, city staff recommended posting two street signs on each post along the street, one with 'šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm St.' and another below with 'Musqueamview St.'
In 2022, the City of Victoria also changed all of its Trutch Street signs to Su'it Street, which means 'truth' for the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations.
If council approves the staff report next week, the new šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street signs are scheduled to be officially revealed at an event on June 20 at St. James Community Square.
dfumano@postmedia.com
twitter.com/fumano
Trutch Street signs remain in Vancouver almost four years after decolonization vote
Vancouver and Victoria councils to consider renaming Trutch Street in their cities
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Some people question FIFA World Cup benefits, while Eby says Vancouver could host more matches
Premier David Eby says B.C. is able to host more than the seven 2026 FIFA World Cup matches planned for Vancouver, even as questions mount over transparency and the tournament's economic benefits. B.C. organizers announced on Tuesday that the cost estimate of hosting the games increased to between $532 million and $624 million. That's up from a 2024 estimate of between $483 million and $581 million. B.C.'s government justified the cost increase, saying the matches — part of the tournament being co-hosted by the U.S. and Mexico — will lead to more than one million additional out-of-province visitors between 2026 and 2031, generating more than $1 billion in additional visitor spending. But an economist and a pollster are questioning the benefits for B.C. Meanwhile, Eby said the province would be eager to take on more of the World Cup matches if any are reassigned from other host cities. His remarks come amid growing concerns around the U.S. as a co-host nation. Human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have raised "grave concerns" about the tournament being held there, and questions have surfaced over whether international fans will face barriers due to U.S. immigration policies. Eby made the comments Friday while answering questions from reporters at a signing ceremony at the Musqueam soccer field near Southwest Marine Drive, where the provincial government, the City of Vancouver, and three local First Nations formalized their agreement to co-operate on hosting duties. "Additional games in British Columbia would not only be possible, but they would be incredibly welcome," Eby said. "We've actually written to FIFA to say if for whatever reason they need to move games from any other locations, British Columbia stands ready to host," he said. "We can move quickly. We have an amazing team and we are ready to host additional games here in this beautiful province." Eby added many of the big expenses for hosting the FIFA World Cup like upgrades to B.C. Place Stadium are already being paid for and won't increase if more games are added. "In terms of the budget, a lot of the costs for FIFA are fixed costs related to upgrades ... which means that additional games bring in additional ticket revenue, additional revenue for the province," he said. But a pollster says the economic benefits of the tournament may not be known for decades, given some of the files from the organizing committee of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics are still sealed. "I understand the frustration completely, because here we are almost a couple of decades out of the Vancouver Winter Olympics and we don't have a full accounting of what happened," said Mario Canseco, the president of the polling firm Research done by Canseco over the last few years has revealed general support for hosting the World Cup, but the pollster noted that many people "had a bad taste in their mouths" over the Olympics' legacy in the city. Canseco noted that the hundreds of millions being spent on the World Cup come amid a time of economic uncertainty in the province, given the U.S. tariff threat and rising inflation. "FIFA tends to be just as secretive as the Olympic Committee, if not more so," the pollster said. "So it's going to be tough to actually look at all of these numbers at the end of the World Cup and see if it makes sense." Economist doubtful of numbers Officials have been bullish on the positive benefits associated with hosting the World Cup, with Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim likening hosting the World Cup to having 30 Super Bowls, in terms of economic benefit. An average viewership figure for each FIFA opening round game is about 360 million, compared with the approximately 115 million views the Super Bowl gets. In addition, the province has estimated 350,000 spectators will come to B.C. Place for the World Cup games. Moshe Lander, a senior economics lecturer at Concordia University, said he's skeptical over those numbers and doubts the economic benefits would amount to hosting even one or two Super says that, given a crunch on hotel room space in Vancouver, World Cup visitors would likely displace regular tourists and cruise ship passengers that would have already been in the city at the height of summer. "That reduces the overall economic benefits substantially — not quite to zero, but pretty close to it," he told Amy Bell, guest host of CBC's On The also says that, given what the city saw during the 2010 Olympics, locals are likely to leave Vancouver during the summer to avoid the chaos associated with hosting a large tournament. "That itself, then, reduces the benefits even further," the economist said. "So there is just no way that there's going to be $1 billion worth of economic benefits. I think that the decimal is massively in the wrong spot to the right." Entire province to benefit: minister In response to Lander's criticism, B.C. Tourism Minister Spencer Chandra Herbert said the province was using the World Cup investments to upgrade B.C. Place stadium and provide benefits into the future. "I think the economist kind of misses the point," he said on CBC's On The Coast. "This isn't all predicated on the idea of tourism during one month." Herbert said the province's investment in the World Cup was a sound one, given how jurisdictions spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising to grab eyeballs from across the globe. "You'd have to spend a whole lot more than we're currently spending on World Cup to generate the same interest in our jurisdiction, to get in front of people for hours at a time as they watch the game," Herbert said. "It's an ongoing tourism advertisement during the game."Herbert said the World Cup was the "first step" for B.C. to market itself as a safe destination for tourists, who would then visit other parts of the province like Vancouver Island and the B.C. Interior. "I think, sometimes, you have to spend a penny to make a pound, so to speak," Herbert said. "And I think in this case, if you're looking at spending $85 [million] to $145 million in net core cost for the province ... then you [must] bear that out with the growth in tourism and the growth in interest and investment."
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F.'s Great Highway recall fight begins: Did Joel Engardio mislead the Sunset?
The campaign to recall San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio kicked off canvassing efforts Saturday at McCoppin Square Park along Taraval Street in the Sunset District, one month after successfully triggering a special election set for Sept. 16. Armed with bright yellow pamphlets bearing Engardio's face and text in both English and Chinese that read 'He turned his back on the Sunset,' dozens of volunteers gathered to knock on doors and canvas their neighbors to vote for the recall. The trouble for Engardio, a moderate elected out of District 4 in 2022, started when he championed a ballot measure that would permanently remove cars from a 2-mile stretch of the city's westernmost coastal boulevard, the Upper Great Highway, in favor of opening a park. That measure, called Proposition K, passed with 55% of the citywide vote in the November election. But a majority of voters in westside precincts, where residents say they relied on the highway to drive around their neighborhood, rejected the measure. Engardio has defended the measure that converted the highway into what's now called 'Sunset Dunes Park,' arguing it was a democratic opportunity to restore access to the coast for all residents. He said he's been his district's 'champion' since day one, pointing to his support for restoring algebra to eighth grade, adding police beat patrols to Irving Street and creating the Sunset Night Market. The recall effort reflects not only the intense controversy over urban land use in San Francisco, but also the burgeoning political power of westside residents who feel their quality of life was harmed by what they perceive as a 'war on cars.' 'I've lived out here for years and I've never seen the Chinese community get so behind anything,' said Susan Chen, a 30-year Sunset resident and recall volunteer, at Saturday's canvassing effort. Meanwhile, Engardio's supporters have argued that recalls, funded by taxpayer money, are a waste of city resources, that it's undemocratic to vote out a supervisor based on a single issue and that the Sunset Dunes Park has had a minimal impact on congestion. A Chronicle data analysis of westside traffic data painted a complicated picture of how the highway closure has impacted traffic: Some commutes have become longer during rush hour as drivers are forced onto more congested alternative routes, especially Chain of Lakes Drive in Golden Gate Park. But some arteries showed no slowdowns at all. Engardio said he's worked with SFMTA to alleviate the traffic impact. Those interventions include adding dual left and right turn lanes and a traffic signal at a key intersection to ease congestion on Chain of Lakes Drive. Engardio's backers ramped up advertising and appealed for Mayor Daniel Lurie to support Engardio last week. Engardio has some high-profile supporters, including Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelmann, who posted on his X account Monday, 'Moderate SF Supervisor @JoelEngardio fixes potholes, supports small biz, brought back Algebra, and fights for what's right no matter how high the personal stakes.' Stoppelmann, who donated $175,000 to the 'Stand with Joel' anti-recall campaign, added that Lurie should back Engardio. Lurie has, so far, not taken a public stance on the recall effort against Engardio. If he is recalled, it will fall on Lurie to pick his replacement. 'This recall is wasteful and threatens to derail all the progress that's been made to tackle the city's biggest challenges,' said Joe Arellano, spokesperson for the Stop the Recall campaign, in a statement, adding that 'Joel will be out knocking on doors and earning votes, like a true public servant.' Arellano also called the recall effort 'GOP-backed,' pointing to an email sent out by the San Francisco Republican Party this week that encouraged followers to join Saturday's rally. Jamie Hughes, one of the lead organizers for the recall, said that the effort includes 'everybody from every ideology' and that the group tries 'to stay away from labels.' Hughes is an ally of former progressive San Francisco Board of Supervisors president Aaron Peskin. He said the recall campaign isn't coordinating with the Republican Party and argued that GOP support shows that the recall is drawing people from all sides of the political spectrum. That's because, in his words, 'Joel messed up.' Recall proponents said the recall isn't only about the Great Highway, but how Engardio's behavior during the past year showed what they consider to be a lack of transparency, accountability and representation. John Higgins, a Sunset resident, said he never even used the Great Highway and is not looking to reopen it, but he felt Engardio lied about his stance. He pointed to how Engardio, alongside four other city supervisors, submitted a proposal to place Proposition K on the ballot on June 18, 2024, the last possible day for them to do so. 'These are shady methods,' Higgins said. Many recall proponents said they were taken by surprise, only learning about Engardio's proposal through news articles, and were upset that Engardio never held town halls prior to placing the issue on the ballot. Many said they thought Engardio had lied to them because, in 2022, while campaigning against then-incumbent District 4 supervisor Gordon Mar, he had said he supported what was then the status quo of pedestrianizing the highway on weekends only. 'Had he told this district when he was running for supervisor that he was going to close down the Great Highway 24/7, he would never have been elected,' Chen said. Engardio rejected that characterization. He supported the status quo in 2022, he said, compared to the alternative at the time, which was a ballot measure to open the Great Highway to cars 24/7. He said he had told voters he didn't want to rule out the option of a permanent park in place of the highway when campaigning in 2022. He also posted on X, then known as Twitter, in December 2022, after being elected, 'I believe the future is a permanent oceanside park.' Those explanations ring hollow to Selena Chu, who had campaigned to elect Engardio in 2022, believing he supported the compromise of keeping the highway open to cars on weekdays. 'We felt our voice was heard and that's why we advocated for this person,' Chu, a recall organizer, said. 'It was a personal betrayal and it was also a betrayal to the community. This was a guy I had advocated for for two years.' As Chu walked down 22nd Avenue Saturday, a fellow Sunset resident, spotting Chu's Recall Engardio sign, started clapping. 'Everything he's done has been underhanded,' Gene Pulliam, who's lived in the Sunset for 60 years, said to Chu. 'He put the paperwork in the last week or something. That's just wrong.'
UPI
a day ago
- UPI
Thousands attend Iranian state funerals for victims of Iran-Israel conflict
Funeral processions got underway in Tehran Saturday, for around 60 of the roughly 600 total people killed in the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel. Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA-EFE June 28 (UPI) -- Funeral processions got underway in Tehran Saturday, for around 60 people killed in the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian thanked the hundreds of thousands of mourners who attended the funerals for those killed, which included high-ranking military officers and nuclear scientists in addition to civilians. "From the bottom of my heart, I thank you dear people; With love, you bid farewell to the martyrs of our homeland, and our voice of unity reached the ears of the world," Pezeshkian said on X, in a post translated to English. از صمیم قلب از شما مردم عزیز سپاسگزارم؛ با عشق، شهدای وطن را بدرقه کردید و صدای وحدتمان به گوش جهان رسید. ما از حسین بن علی(ع) آموختهایم تن به ذلت ندهیم و در برابر ظلم، سر خم نکنیم. خدمت به چنین ملت آزادهای، افتخار زندگی من است. تا همیشه ایران Masoud Pezeshkian (@drpezeshkian) June 28, 2025 "Serving such a noble nation is the honor of my life," he wrote. "Forever Iran." The post was accompanied by photos of people waving flags and banners lining the streets of the Iranian capital for the state funerals. Chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" could also be heard among the crowd. The event was also broadcast on Iranian state television. Pezeshkian marched in the funeral procession. The Iranian president and state-run Islamic Republic News Agency referred to those killed as "martyrs." The IRNA also said around 90 military members and more than 10 leading scientists were among the around 600 people killed in the Israeli attacks. There was no mention during Saturday's funeral proceedings by local media of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei earlier in the week declared "victory" over the United States, following the American bombardment of three Iranian nuclear facilities. The airstrikes carried out by the U.S. Air Force' B-2 Spirit bombers came following 12 days of various attacks on elements of Iran's military by the Israel Defense Forces. Khamenei told state media the American bombing "achieved nothing." However, on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi admitted the country's nuclear facilities "have been seriously damaged." Araghchi attended the funerals Saturday, calling the deaths "hard and painful," while promising "new glory" for Iran. The countries "don't have anything scheduled as of now," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday in response to a question about planned talks between the two nations. Israel and Iran remain in a tense ceasefire that was brokered by the United States. "It was so bad they ended the war," Trump said earlier in the week of the American bombing on Iran's nuclear facilities. Israel has accused Iran of violating terms of the ceasefire, ordering new attacks in retaliation before the current peace was reached. Israeli forces continued military operations Saturday, killing at least 20 people in a bombing operation in Gaza. The strikes on the Palestinian enclave come one day after the IDF attacked suspected positions held by Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing one and injuring more than a dozen others.
