After McGill, Nova Scotia high school moves to drop Redmen team name

HALIFAX — A Cape Breton high school has decided to stop calling its hockey team the Redmen, the latest to drop the name after McGill University in Montreal did so earlier this year.

Riverview High School, located in Coxheath, N.S., just outside Sydney, announced plans to change the name this week after nearly 50 years, recognizing it could be considered offensive and the time was ripe for a change.

“The history of the name ‘Riverview Redmen’ in the beginning did not refer to First Nations people, however it did refer to the jersey colour and the candy cane socks,” Michelle MacLeod, a spokeswoman for the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education, said in a statement.

“Initially, when the name was created, a consultation process occurred with community leaders from our First Nations communities. At that time the name was not found to be offensive.”

At the Nova Scotia high school, discussions have been ongoing for more than a year.

The rebranding process will begin in the fall of 2019 for all of the school’s sports teams, and a new team name will be chosen through the consultation — a process that will include the community and students.

“The school recognizes that the name can be offensive and it is time for a rebranding process of all team names to occur,” MacLeod said. “The goal of the school is to ensure that all team names are culturally respectful.”

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil, who is also minister responsible for aboriginal affairs, welcomed the decision.

“I think it demonstrates a generation of young Nova Scotians who are looking towards the sensitivity of all citizens and wanting to make sure that names are inclusive and reflective of today’s reality,” McNeil said in Halifax.

In April, McGill University announced it was dropping the Redmen name for its men’s varsity sports teams, effective immediately.

Principal Suzanne Fortier said in a statement that the Redmen name has caused pain and alienation for Indigenous students at the university.

As was the case in Nova Scotia, the name was not initially adopted as a reference to Indigenous peoples. But at McGill the association was made in the 1950s when men’s and women’s teams were given racist nicknames and some teams later adopted a logo with an Indigenous man wearing a headdress.

The decision came after a lengthy process that included a report released last year revealing deep divisions between students and alumni who defend the nearly century-old name and those who found it offensive.

MacLeod said Riverview came to a decision on its own.

“The school recognizes the public concerns that have been (made) in other parts of the country however, it is something that they have identified themselves as a school improvement goal for all their teams,” she said.

– By Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal with files from Keith Doucette in Halifax.

The Canadian Press