The National Capital Commission (NCC) board of directors voted Thursday to rename the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway early this autumn as Kichi Zībī Mīkan.
The Ottawa River Parkway was renamed in 2012 after Canada’s first prime minister, who oversaw the centralization and expansion of the country’s residential school system.
Indigenous people have called for a new name for years. Ottawa city councillors along the roadway joined them in 2021 and in January of this year, the NCC’s board voted to change the name.
Earlier this month, its CEO said the new name was chosen after consulting Algonquin people.
Mīkan, pronounced MEE-khan, is an Algonquin word meaning road or path. Kichi Zībī means great river and is the Algonquin name
