Virginia Sutherland wants something good to grow from losing her mother.
“My sister Lilian and I have been talking about how can we do something in her memory,” said Sutherland at the Sept. 20 Indigenous Advisory Committee meeting.
A proposal to honorarily name the intersection of Vipond Road and Moneta Avenue Bernadette Sutherland’s Way was presented by Melanie Verreault at the meeing.
“It was an intersecting of our paths, and I said, I am more than happy to write the proposal for you, and I want to bring your voice forward in this proposal,” said Verreault, Trimedia Consulting Inc.’s owner and president. “It was serendipity.”
Bernadette Sutherland’s body was found on the northeast corner of the Vipond and Moneta roads intersection on Aug. 1, 1986. Recently, there has been construction at the site to allow for a tractor-trailer fleet parking lot.
She had moved to Timmins from Fort Albany, leaving an unhealthy relationship, to build a safer life for herself and her nine children.
“My sister used to go to the site to do her ceremony by herself, lay tobacco, and I'm always finding something to do to honour her,” said Sutherland.
While attending a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) walk in Victoria, she met an advocate named Carol Martin.
“She came up to the microphone and said, is this a foundation? Am I on a foundation? And I came back with that,” she said. “We need to create a foundation for these projects.”
Not long after that, Sutherland and her sister ran into Mayor Michelle Boileau at their uncle’s funeral in Fort Albany.
“She was very supportive, and that’s how this all started,” she said.
The request to memorialize Bernadette Sutherland in the place she was found could show the city’s commitment to addressing the Calls for Justice by the final report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, said Verreault.
“This can be great learning pieces for our partners, with the police, on how we can identify these things better,” she said. “And making sure we are doing upstream practices too, how do you stop people from going missing.”
While the City of Timmins does not currently have a procedure to request an honorary street name, there are examples of similar bylaws in Steinbach, Man., Winnipeg, and Toronto.
Honorary street names do not affect existing addresses. In communities implementing this, the honorary street name signage is placed above the existing street sign.
The proposal also calls for an unveiling ceremony for the new sign to be held on May 5, 2024.
May 5 is Red Dress Day, also called the National Day of Awareness for MMIWG.
A community engagement event is planned for Oct. 25 for residents and business owners near Vipond Road and Moneta Avenue to answer any questions about the proposed honorary name change or Bernadette Sutherland’s story.
“Even just wanting to hear about that story, that side of things,” said Verreault. “Nothing has to change in terms of their ID; it’s nothing like that.”
The proposal already has support from the City of Timmins Committee Against Gender-Based Violence and ONWA.
The committee also committed to offsetting the cost of the signage.
The requests and application fees are expected to be $183 to $200. The sign toppers are budgeted at $244 to $300 plus HST per topper.
“We know this is not going to change the world tomorrow, but if we can start doing this for future generations, maybe for our own kids and grandkids, that it’s going to change the reality,” said Verreault.
No decisions have been made on the item. The proposal will be presented to city council at the Oct. 3 meeting.
