This week in the Herald, I make the case to retire the name Edward Cornwallis from the coast guard ship that bears it when it emerges from a substantial refit next January. The minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Bernadette Jordan commented they haven’t had the discussion but are open to it.

The name Provo Wallis would be a good choice to re-instate, as the ship that carried that name was retired in 2011. Provo Wallis was born in Halifax, and died as the highest ranking Admiral in the RN with 96 years of service. Halifax Magazine featured The Amazing Career of Provo Wallis in June 2019

for those who viewed the removal of the statue as destruction of Heritage, in 2018 i wrote:

The removal of the Cornwallis statue was cited by many as the destruction of heritage. While the statue itself was integral to the original design of the park, and the lands surrounding it, Cornwallis was a dubious character in history, and despite being the “founder” of Halifax, doesn’t really warrant a statue on a pillar in the centre of town…

However, given the massive outcry over the loss of the statue as heritage, let me suggest a number of actual pieces of history that are being mishandled by various levels of government, and in many cases literally falling apart from neglect and in need of public outcry.

-In the neighborhood of Cornwallis Park, the Elmwood hotel needs the protection of the delayed Barrington South Heritage conservation district
-The Dennis Building sits empty and risks Facadism
-Georges Island is being neglected by the federal government
-York Redoubt’s WW2 defenses are crumbling
-Point Pleasant Park’s WW2 forts are falling into the ocean
-the Khyber is crumbling
-Lighthouses are being neglected EVERYWHERE
-Two heritage buildings at Bloomfield are falling apart
-McNabs Island is being neglected by DNR
-Young Avenue is being slowly destroyed
-Getting a Dartmouth heritage museum (really the entire city needs a proper museum)
-Better access to the cities archives (they’re in Burnside)
-Getting federal tax credits for heritage buildings (private members bill was voted down by the Liberal majority)
-Changes to the Province’s Heritage Act to disallow, as of right, demolitions of registered structures