BONAVISTA, N.L. — While St. John’s council approved a motion Monday evening to change the name of the provincial holiday Discovery Day to St. John’s Day for the city, Bonavista MHA Neil King says there’s still no need to change the name.
King has been a vocal critic of the name change, saying over the past two weeks he’s had many people in his district agree with his stance.
“They appreciate John Cabot’s landing here,” said King in an interview with The Packet. “No one’s disputing that our Indigenous friends were before us and the Vikings before that, but this is the first landing in the New World from our European settlers back in 1497.”
King adds that a motion passed by the City of St. John’s by five councillors has “no bearing on what we do as a province … really it’s a moot point.”
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King says he plans on talking to Premier Dwight Ball later on Tuesday, Aug. 7, to discuss if the province plans to change the name, but until then, nothing changes for him.
“It’s a city driven issue and we’ll keep calling it Discovery Day in our region.”
Twitter: @jejparsons
