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An Edmonton shopping centre has dropped its controversial namesake from its signage.
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This weekend, Edmontonians noticed a change at Oliver Square, a half-dozen-block shopping plaza along 104 Avenue.
Signage and search engine listings now identify the commercial district as Unity Square.
The square previously shared a name with Frank Oliver, a journalist and politician who is considered one of Edmonton’s founding fathers.
Oliver, who served as an MLA and a member of parliament, was a committed racist who fought against non-British and non-white immigration. As federal minister of the interior during the early 20th century, he railed against immigrants from central and eastern Europe, Japan and China, the latter of whom he compared to pigs. He also famously banned Black immigration, prohibiting entry to “any immigrants belonging to the Negro race.”
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As minister of Indian affairs, Oliver sponsored legislation to strip reserve lands from Indigenous people, permitting the land to be sold for next to nothing. He died in 1933.
Oliver’s name is attached to a park, a school, a recreation centre and the city’s most populous neighbourhood, but momentum has been building to change the names. Last year, the Edmonton Public School Board voted to rename Oliver School, while the Oliver Community League is exploring options for a new moniker.
The shopping centre’s name change comes weeks after Edmonton city council opted to rename the Grandin LRT station for its namesake’s role in the residential school system.
The shopping plaza’s property manager said a news release with additional details would be issued after the long weekend.
