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Once the Province of Nova Scotia gives its approval, the name of the Village of Cornwallis Square will officially be changed to the Village of Kings Square.

Village commission chairperson Michael Keith said the name Cornwallis Square isn’t widely recognizable or obviously associated with the four geographic communities it represents: Waterville, Cambridge, Grafton, and Woodville.

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The village commission also wants to acknowledge the Annapolis Valley First Nation as a clearly identifiable community within village boundaries. The commission recognizes that the name Cornwallis Square is not respectful or inclusive.

The process to legally change the name began in the spring of 2022. Keith said they received letters from the Annapolis Valley First Nation requesting a name change. Recognizing the efforts of other communities to remove the Cornwallis name, they wanted to do the same.

Keith said they sent out information flyers, held public meetings, made presentations to local schools, and requested potential names from area residents to get the community involved in the process.

“We had quite a long list of names presented to us, and it took us about a year or better to go through those and weed them out,” Keith said, pointing out that they decided eventually on the Village of Kings Square.

There is no estimated timeframe, but they are now awaiting final approval from the province to make the name change official. He said one obstacle they encountered was that there was no provision in the Municipal Government Act for an incorporated village to change its name.

Keith said they worked with MLAs and Department of Municipal Affairs staff to get a legislative amendment. If that couldn’t be achieved, they would have asked the local MLA to introduce a private member’s bill to get the name changed.

He said the inclusion of the Annapolis Valley First Nation as the fifth community wouldn’t result in any changes in governance for the First Nation, which has its own council, or for the village. The intent is for the village to work closely and inclusively with the Indigenous community as a partner. The First Nation has been involved in discussions surrounding the name change throughout the process.

Annapolis Valley First Nation Chief Gerald Toney couldn’t be reached for comment prior to deadline for this article.

Challenging process

Village commission vice chairperson John Foote said that, at first, he was somewhat overwhelmed by the thought of the process involved with changing the name and not being certain where to turn.

However, there was interest in doing so and the village commission worked through it. Foote said that, for him, there was a learning curve, but the process has gone well.

“I didn’t really have any opposition to it,” Foote said. “I hadn’t realized living in my little world that it was even an issue.”

He said they visited the Annapolis Valley First Nation a few times during the initiative, and the community is appreciative of the change. Foote said it was a challenge to select a new name as there were about three dozen suggestions to choose from.

In recent years, there has been a movement to replace monuments and place names relating to Edward Cornwallis , a British career military officer who, in 1749, authorized barbaric measures to drive Mi’kmaq people from Nova Scotia .

Village commissioner Doug MacLean said there are several recent examples of the Cornwallis name being changed or removed in respect to First Nations communities. This includes the Town of Kentville renaming Cornwallis Street to Bridge Street, and a statue of Edward Cornwallis being removed from a park in Halifax.

“We’re not out of step with others, and it’s worth respect to the First Nations community, in my mind,” MacLean said.

Keith said the village has been experiencing a lot of growth, especially along the Highway 1 corridor in Cambridge and Waterville. With a new Highway 101 interchange coming to the area, it’s expected that the communities of the newly named Village of Kings Square will continue to grow.

“That is going to make a big difference for us,” Keith said. “It’s going to open up a lot of opportunities once that is put in.”

In 1947, Waterville, Cambridge, and Grafton formed the WCG Commission, responsible for fire services. In the 1960s, Woodville joined the service area, and the name became Village of Cornwallis Square. Foote said the name came from the fact that the Cornwallis River ran through the communities that make up the village.

Keith credited village commissioner Sara White for helping to keep them on track and on task as they worked through the name change process.

Committed to reconciliation

Kings County Mayor Dave Corkum said the municipality applauds the village commission and Annapolis Valley First Nation for working together to build a stronger relationship through what ended up being a multi-year process to change the village’s name. The effort represents a genuine desire to do better in the communities they serve.

“At the end of the day, it’s meaningful and it’s very timely,” Corkum said.

He said the county is “certainly committed” to its path toward reconciliation, learning, diversity, equity, and its Strategy for Belonging in the Municipality of the County of Kings.

The mayor said this commitment includes “anything we can do government to government to build a relationship with the Indigenous communities throughout Mi’kma’ki, particularly our friends at the Annapolis Valley First Nation and Glooscap (First Nation).”

Considering ongoing reconciliation efforts to remove the Cornwallis name from public organizations, entities, and infrastructure such as streets, Corkum said it’s important to acknowledge and respect that the Annapolis Valley First Nation is within the boundaries of the former Cornwallis Square. Geographically, the two are intertwined.

In this regard, he said, changing the name is an important initiative in addressing and re-addressing harmful aspects of shared history.

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