A park bench designed to celebrate Indigenous reconciliation has divided a sleepy Canadian community.
The controversial bench was installed at Kinsmen Park in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, to commemorate Canada’s National Truth and Reconciliation Day, an annual holiday on September 30 to recognize the atrocities and multigenerational effects of the Canadian Indian Residential School. system.
Mayor George Andrews said the bench was intended to be a place where people could sit and reflect. pointing to the CBC which has been received positively by some of the residents.
But two women have spoken out against the new seating arrangement after the council removed benches from public places last year.
One of the women, Jade Rachwal, even called it a classic example of hostile architecture, due to the placement of an armrest in the center.
A bench installed in Kinsmen Park has divided the community of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador
“If you were to Google ‘hostile architecture,’ you would see a picture of a bench that looks like that,” said Rachwal, director of youth programs at the Labrador Friendship Centre, referring to an urban design concept that incorporates certain elements to guide behavior. .
Its installation came just a year after the city of Happy Valley-Goose Bay removed benches around the community of about 8,000 people, including trailheads, to combat “loitering and illegal activity.”
“We are all witnessing the rise of laziness,” Andrews he said at that time. ‘Drunk people, groups of people.
“The night before last, we had 20 to 25 people hanging around the plane (at the US military memorial), throwing rocks, beer bottles and that kind of stuff.”
He said loitering has become a common practice since the Labrador Winter Games in March.
“What we’re trying to do is just avoid those gatherings and that activity, you know, people sleeping and drinking, that kind of treatment in these particular places.”
But community members opposed the city council’s decision, saying it takes away benches from people who need a break while walking, and Avery Brown, social worker and board secretary of the Labrador Friendship Center, says the new bench It is an affront to them. .
“Taking away that accessibility not only from people affected by homelessness, but also from people who may have mobility issues and need a break in the middle of their walk, I thought was a little ironic,” he told CBC.
“You know, championing this bank through accessibility when the rest of the community became less accessible.”
Mayor George Andrews said the bench was never intended to create hostility, but was designed as a place for people to sit and reflect.
Both Brown and Rachwal said they would like to know more about how city officials considered the placement of the bench and armrest, and about any discussions officials have had about other reconciliation efforts.
“It just leaves me wanting more,” Brown said. “The bank seems really small compared to what it is meant to commemorate.”
Andrews, however, says the court never intended to create hostility.
He said it was placed in the park to serve as a place to sit and reflect, noting there were no concerns about people lying on the bench overnight because the park closes at 9 p.m.
“A couple of years ago we were in a different situation, where public safety was considered in terms of certain places,” he said of the city council’s decision to eliminate banks in 2023.
‘The only reason it was done is because the activity that was happening around those banks – in our opinion, as a council, was seen as, you know, a matter of public safety.
“This has nothing to do with that particular issue.”
The mayor went on to say that the decision to add a center armrest was “a last minute thing.”
He also said the city has not yet added any other banks due to other infrastructure priorities.