Coderre calls Amherst a ‘stain’ and to yank general’s name from Montreal street
MONTREAL — Jeffery Amherst, the British general who supported giving smallpox-laced blankets to Indigenous Peoples and whose military victories ended French rule in Canada, will no longer be honoured with a street name in Montreal.
“Goodbye Jeffery Amherst,” Mayor Denis Coderre said Wednesday at an event marking the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Coderre said Amherst is a “stain on our history” and the street just east of downtown that bears his name must be renamed in order to move forward on the path of reconciliation with the native community.
Amherst Street, located in the city’s gay village, is named after a man who wanted to “exterminate” native people during the 1700s, Coderre said.