The Ottawa resident behind the renaming of Annie Pootoogook Park wants to bring recognition to other historically significant women, one park at a time.

When the Sandy Hill Community Centre at 250 Somerset St. E. was renamed to Annie Pootoogook Park in early November, it made local headlines. The new sign for the park was unveiled during an official ceremony featuring an attendance by Governor General Mary May Simon.

The idea for the new name was championed by resident and Action Sandy Hill member Stéphanie Plante, who noticed a lack of places in Ottawa named for women.

“As I was making my way around the city—suburbs, urban areas, rural areas—I noticed that there wasn't… anything really named after women,” says Plante.

Annie Pootoogook was a prominent Inuk artist who lived in the Sandy Hill area of Ottawa. Originally from Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Pootoogook moved to Ottawa in 2008 after gaining fame across Canada for her contemporary depictions of everyday Inuit life. At the time, she was a single mother raising a young daughter.

Plante says she feels a connection to Pootoogook. As a single mother who has struggled financially, Plante can relate to some of the challenges Pootoogook faced.

“I always thought it was just weird that our personal lives kind of fell apart at the same time,” says Plante. “But we both had very different outcomes.”

In mid-September 2016, Pootoogook, who had battled an addiction to substances for much of her life, was discovered dead in the Rideau River near Bordeleau Park. Her death was considered suspicious. A subsequent investigation into her death, led by Sgt. Chris Hrnchiar of the Ottawa Police Service, lasted 13 months and yielded no conclusive evidence regarding the nature of Pootoogook’s death.

The event rattled Ottawa’s Inuk community, especially after racist comments made by Hrnchiar concerning Pootoogook’s death were found online, according to APTN. 

In December 2019, Plante began the process to rename the Sandy Hill Community Centre. Pootoogook’s name was chosen because of her connection to the Sandy Hill community and its many Indigenous residents. 

According to Plante, the reception among community members was “overwhelmingly positive.” 

“I think, especially because that was the beginning of the pandemic, people were desperate for some good news,” says Plante. “It was just news that was a bright light in what was probably a dark time.”

However, shortly after the park’s debut in November, the new sign bearing Pootoogook’s name was defaced. The vandal had painted over Pootoogook’s name, writing “Sandy Hill,” the park’s previous name, in its place.

This prompted a police investigation, which has yet to be concluded, Const. Paramjit Singh told CHUO on Tuesday.

Plante was devastated by the vandalism, which she says is not representative of her community.

“I hope that people see Sandy Hill, not only with this project, but the future projects that we have going on, that it's a place where everyone can feel welcome and accepted,” says Plante. 

One of those projects is already underway, as Plante is in the process of having Sandy Hill’s Wilfrid Laurier Park renamed after Cindy Mitchell, former director of Ottawa’s Bettye Hyde Nursery.

“And the reason for that is because we know essential workers are few and far between in our public consciousness… in terms of recognition,” says Plante. “And the other aspect is [that] because of early childhood care workers, a lot of women can continue working and keep their careers going. So we want to make sure that at a municipal level, there's some recognition for that.”

Mitchell, who worked at Bettye Hyde for 27 years, retired in 2020 after having largely shaped the early learning centre’s successful business model. She is known for being an champion for equal pay and health benefits for workers in the early childhood education industry.

Plante has yet to see any opposition to the proposed name change, for which Action Sandy Hill is currently seeking support from city councillors. Plante is hoping the name change will be approved and implemented by this coming Labour Day, which was celebrated in honour of essential workers last year.

Listen to the CHUO story below: