Quebec to change place names with N-word, Report

The commission responsible for managing Quebec’s place names has announced it will rename 11 sites around the province that contain the “N-word.”

“Some of the place names, which have become common usage, are the result of historic events,” notes the Commission de toponomie in a report issued Friday.

“Nevertheless … the words nigger and nègres (negroes) are an affront to the dignity to the black community. The first has a very hurtful connotation (while) the second, over time has acquired a pejorative connotation.”

The sites, all of them in relatively remote areas, will be renamed with a view to respect local events or individuals, the agency said, without revealing any timeline on when the new names will be adopted.

Agencies/Canadajournal