Calls to change the name of George McDougall High School continue to grow as a group of concerned citizens presented the idea to Rocky View Schools (RVS).
During the RVS Board of Trustees meeting last Thursday, two members of a group calling for the name change made a presentation showing their research and the reasons why they believe the change should happen.
Local writer Kim Cheel was one of those presenters.
"In light of the Kamloops discovery, the Brandon, Manitoba discovery, in light of the fact that there have been residential schools all over Canada and that there are first and second-generation victims from this, it just seems like the right time to have this conversation as to (whether) we want to continue to honour this man knowing what he has done."
Cheel brought up the fact that George McDougall founded a day school and orphanage on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation which eventually turned into a residential school.
"Day schools were just as traumatic as residential schools," added Cheel. "Sometimes people like to go, 'it was just a day school.' There's no just day schools when the intention was to 'get the Indian out of the man.' It's traumatic regardless of whether they could go home at the end of the day or not."