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Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi says he’s considering the request to change the bridge’s name.

Many Guns wants the federal government to also consider changing the name of Langevin Block to something that would acknowledge the role Langevin played in a system that the commission called cultural genocide.

“We’re just adding another page to history,” she said.

“I think it’s time for moving beyond this blind commitment to people from the past. If you are going to retain those names, at least put a plaque there that states his perspective.”

The Conservative government, however, doesn’t seem to have much interest in the idea.

“There are no plans to rename the Langevin Block,” said Public Works and Government Services Minister Diane Finley, in a statement released by her office.

The renaming of the 1889 building would be even more symbolic because it is the daily workplace of the prime minister, Many Guns said.

“I think, because of the relevance to the government, it almost becomes more pertinent, especially given the commitment and (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper’s apology to the residential school people.”

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report prominently quotes Langevin’s 1883 statement in the House of Commons, in which he argued,

“In order to educate the children properly we must separate them from their families. Some people may say that this is hard but if we want to civilize them we must do that.”

The Department of Indian Affairs was among the building’s first tenants and remained there until 1965. After renovations in the 1970s, it was used to provide additional space from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Privy Council Office. It was designated a national historic site in 1977.

The NDP’s aboriginal affairs critic, Niki Ashton, said she is supportive of the efforts to rename the bridge in Calgary and open to the discussion about the Langevin Block.

“Obviously, it’s a national issue and it’s the same name that’s attributed to the Prime Minister’s Office,” she said.

“It is important to look at how we’re naming our national buildings. I think we have to listen carefully to what this campaign is saying: that we shouldn’t be honouring those associated with such dark parts of our history.”

gmcgregor@ottawacitizen.com

Twitter.com/glen_mcgregor