Howdy folks! Thank you so much to everyone in the community for participating in our name change process. It couldn’t have happened without the support of the Board, the community members who shared their thoughts and feedback, the City of Edmonton team (IRO and Naming Committee), Heartstage Engagement team, and most of all – to the Renaming Circle team who gifted us our new name, sharing with us so much history and story that helps highlight how great our neighbourhood is.
Down below, I’ll give a quick overview of what we’ve done so far and where we’re at today.
Name Change
Our name change process started with #UncoverOliver, a community led initiative that highlighted the actions of Frank Oliver and the many reasons why that name no longer represented our neighbourhood. Four years ago, the Board of the league voted to oppose the name of Oliver and to navigate the path ahead. In February 2024 – the City Council of Edmonton approved the neighbourhood name change of Oliver to Wîhkwêntôwin. You can read more on the name change process here.
2024 AGM
With the neighbourhood name change officially done – our next steps were to legally change our league name and bylaws. We held our AGM in May 2024 – and had a full house of folks who participated. At the AGM – we are thrilled to share that we voted on and approved to change our league name from Oliver to Wîhkwêntôwin Community League!
This is so exciting and as President – I’m so overjoyed to be a part of this team and neighbourhood who is so supportive. I’m thrilled to be back for two more years and work with talented board members to make Wîhkwêntôwin home. It’s an honour to be able to write this blog post and share the highlights!
Moving Forward
Our next steps as Wîhkwêntôwin Community League is to update wherever the name Oliver exists in our legal documentation, websites, social media and more. We’ve already initiated the process and there should hopefully be minimal impact to your experience with the league. This website will be the home for all your league information for now, and you can stay up to date with our socials – @WCLYEG.
All Director emails have been updated to @wclyeg.com and you can find that info here. If you send an email an @olivercommunity.com handle – we will still receive it! If you see Oliver anywhere in our files and resources – we will slowly be working through them to update and correct.
We look forward to hearing from y’all as we continue to learn and find ways to make our neighbourhood the best place to live, work and play in. You can help us in our rebrand initiative here!
Come and celebrate with us on July 13 for a celebration of our name change and community. You can find more info here. You can catch me here and I look forward to chatting with everyone!
Thank you to everyone once again who has been with us on this journey – we couldn’t have done it without you and we’re looking forward to seeing you around.
Imran
President, WCL