Editor:
I guess now that the municipal election is over and the mayor has declared a "clear mandate," we will be getting on with erasing any reference to "Royal City" from our official city image. The "new" council has already voted in favour of it anyway. I strongly disagree with the idea and I have signed the petition.
I think that getting rid of our Royal City moniker to facilitate reconciliation negates our pioneer history. It's cancelling and trivializing everything our ancestors went through to forge a life in this land. Much like the language, culture and history of our First Nations people was trivialized and cancelled. Two wrongs do not make a right.
Queen Victoria herself named New Westminster, and she declared us the Royal City. Royal City is not just an advertising slogan dreamed up for some publicity campaign; it is who we are. We come by the name legitimately, since the very beginning of our creation as a community.
Royal City is our history, no matter how determined we may be to erase it.
Besides, does anybody realize how much it will cost to change letterheads and signage all over the city to make this one meaningless gesture? Don't we have more important things to spend that money on? I could name a few.
Betty R. L. Gray, New Westminster
