WRDSB to start consultation process to rename Sir John A. Macdonald School

Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School in Waterloo is pictured on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017.

KITCHENER — The Waterloo Region District School Board says it's planning to start community consultation to rename Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School.

In an update posted on the school board's website, members of the Ad Hoc School Naming Review Committee said they "acknowledge that since 2004 there has been ongoing pain and harm with the school named for Sir John A. MacDonald."

"We recognize the ongoing genocide and erasure of culture committed by the nation and people of Canada against the First Nations peoples of this land," the statement said in part. "We are committed to the formulation of a new policy for Naming and Renaming Schools, which respects all Human Rights considerations and the importance of Reconciliation."

Committee members said they're committed to prioritizing renaming schools. All school names will be assessed to reflect "values of the community and recognize the urgency of this particular change."

"We will be seeking to start a community consultation process on a new name for the school as soon as possible, with stakeholders like students and their families and staff, as well as interested members of the community," the statement said.