Should Kitchener change its name?

A petition is calling for a referrendum to get the City of Kitchener to change its name.

The petitioner, Nick Roy, writes “while Lord Kitchener was the face of Britain during the first world war and a galvanizing figure, of all historical figures – he has one of the most controversial pasts.”

“Lord Kitchener started the world's first modern concentration camp system during the first Boer War against the civilian populations present there.”

It goes on to say Kitchener was instrumental in conquering the Sudan, which at the time were defending against an encroaching British Empire.

Kitchener was re-named from Berlin in 1916 during a referrendum.  Other names suggested at the time included Brock, Corona, Adanac, Keowana and Benton.

Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic touched on the topic during an interview on “Staying At Home with Bourke and Farwell” Monday night.

“I think what's more important than what the name was, and the reason it was chosen back then, is really what our city has become,” he said.

“The fact that it's a modern city at the western end of Canada's innovation corridor, one that over many decades, has been very resilient in terms of responding to changes in the global economy, has been home to hundreds of thousands of residents over the years, and has a proud history of being a great community.”

He says instead of focusing on where the name came from, he'd like to focus on the many hundreds of thousands of residents who have called Kitchener home in the time period since the change.