ManitobaNearly nine months into a review of a city policy meant to increase the number of Indigenous place names in Winnipeg, members of the Welcoming Winnipeg committee say their work remains stalled amid a funding shortage and confusion about their role.Welcoming Winnipeg committee was created to help city address lack of Indigenous representation in namesCBC News · Posted: Dec 10, 2025 8:51 PM EST | Last Updated: 40 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Albert McLeod, who has served on the Welcoming Winnipeg committee since its creation in 2020, says there has been a lack of communication between the mayor and city officials while a review of the city policy is ongoing. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)Nearly nine months into a review of a city policy meant to increase the number of Indigenous place names in Winnipeg, members of the Welcoming Winnipeg committee say their work remains stalled amid a funding shortage and confusion about their role.The work of the committee, created to help the city address the lack of Indigenous representation in the names of parks, streets and civic spaces, has been on pause while the public service continues a review of its mandate, direction and structure.Albert McLeod, who has served on the committee since its creation in 2020, says there has been a lack of communication from Mayor Scott Gillingham and city officials while the review is ongoing.”They don’t talk to us, professionally or even socially.… None of them engage us,” said McLeod.In February, a report on the policy commissioned by the mayor’s office found a long list of problems, including a lack of budget and confusion about the policy’s direction. Council voted to direct the public service to come up with recommendations to overhaul the committee’s mandate and structure.Last month, council voted to delay the review’s release for 90 days, meaning it likely won’t return before February 2026, nearly a full year since the release of the initial report. Erin Millions, a University of Winnipeg history professor and member of the committee, said the relationship between the committee and mayor’s office is “non-existent.””The Welcoming Winnipeg initiative is a flagship program and policy,” she said. “This is a program that has been studied internationally by scholars of things like human rights. And it really has been under-acknowledged of just how groundbreaking the policy is in the context of North America.”Mayor Scott Gillingham and members of Winnipeg city council speak at an event officially commemorating the renaming of Bishop Grandin Boulevard to Abinojii Mikanah on June 21, 2024. That renaming was one of the Indigenous naming or renaming projects the Welcoming Winnipeg committee helped advance. (CBC)Welcoming Winnipeg was created in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, which urge governments to restore Indigenous languages and histories to public spaces. In its first full year, the committee helped advance six Indigenous naming or renaming projects, including changing Bishop Grandin Boulevard to Abinojii Mikanah. After that year, the number of Indigenous renamings dropped to four in 2022, then one in 2023. There have been none since then.The committee’s members attribute the decline to a lack of staff and budget, and confusion about the policy’s purpose. “When I began, there was a lot of energy, a lot of hope that this would demonstrate reconciliation,” McLeod said. “That energy, that hope has really diminished over time.”Disrespect, misunderstanding at council: membersCommittee members say they’ve dealt with misunderstanding and dismissal from some members of city council. McLeod said Indigenous committee members in particular have faced a lack of respect for their expertise.”I don’t think the city understands what the truth and reconciliation process is about,” he said. “And certainly I don’t think they understand what their commitment to reconciliation is.”Millions said the committee’s work has been “effectively on hold,” and it’s been unable to take in new naming applications, fill vacancies or move forward on existing files.Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry), a supporter of the committee’s work, said she’s watched councillors publicly dismiss the expertise of the people appointed to advise them.”I’ve watched councillors say, ‘If only we could get an expert here,’ when an expert is in fact talking to them,” Rollins said. Rollins said committee members have been frustrated for years, not just during the review, and that the city has failed to fund the policy or support the Indigenous relations division staff responsible for it.Committee members are still waiting to learn whether the city’s 2026 budget will include funding for Welcoming Winnipeg — something they have repeatedly asked for to support outreach, research and community consultation.Mayor Scott Gillingham said decisions about a budget for the committee would be part of the forthcoming report.In an emailed statement, Gillingham said he’s been “clear that Welcoming Winnipeg is not working as well as it could,” but said he wants it to be successful.That will require “clarity around the roles, responsibilities, and processes for everyone involved,” he said, adding he looks forward to “seeing that reflected in the report once the department has completed it.”City officials declined an interview, saying only that the review is ongoing.
Committee members say work on Winnipeg’s Indigenous naming policy stalled as review drags on
