In response to a 2015 petition, Quebec’s toponymy commission removed 11 offensive names from all official maps of Quebec. Five years later, only one has been renamed — Lac Honoré-Gélinas in Shawinigan.
The names jump out on a map of Quebec: slur-filled terms used to describe rivers, hills and lakes across the province.
But a renewed push to remove offensive names from Quebec’s toponymy has sparked a debate about the best way to remember the history of Black people in Quebec.
Rekeisha George, who launched a petition last week to change all the province’s place names that include the N-word in English and French, says she was enraged to see the offensive words on Google Maps — all while Premier François Legault continues to deny there is systemic racism in Quebec.
“It’s not a place that I would feel comfortable to go and take a stroll,” said George, a Pierrefonds woman who is Black.
“It makes my skin crawl.”
In response to a 2015 petition, Quebec’s toponymy commission removed 11 offensive names from all official maps of Quebec. Five years later, only one has been renamed — Lac Honoré-Gélinas in Shawinigan.
That means private maps, including Google Maps, can still display the offensive titles.
“The commission, which has no legal authority to compel private map publishers, has repeatedly asked Google to remove the names, but without success,” said spokesperson Chantal Bouchard.
There is no mention of Lac Honoré-Gélinas’ former racist name on the toponymy commission’s website.
The commission says it’s working to rename the other 10 locations.
George, who joins many around the world calling for statues of racist historical figures and racist names to be removed, says that’s not enough.
“We need to find a way to make whoever is in charge of changing the name to actually finish the job,” George said.
She acknowledged the importance of preserving the history of these locations, suggestin