River Canard bridge named to honour War of 1812
Essex County council has approved renaming the River Canard bridge, but not without some controversy.
The bridge is on County Road 20, southwest of Windsor.
The Town of Amherstburg refused to recommend naming it after two British soldiers involved in the War of 1812. The mayor argued against it again last night.
James Hancock and John Dean were said to be up against 280 Americans at the outset of the war, on July 16, 1812.
Hancock became the first casualty, and Dean was the first prisoner of war.
Historical accounts on exactly what they did contradict each other.
That's why Amherstburg Mayor Wayne Hurst balked at naming the bridge after them.
"If you're going to brag, brag about facts. It's not what might have happened. It's what did happen," Hurst said.
But Kingsville deputy mayor Tamara Stomp took another view, arguing passionately about recognizing Hancock and Dean.
"This is a celebration. That's all it is. Don't make it into anything worse than it is. Don't make it into something more than it is. It's just a celebration of something that happened in 1812," she said.
A motion to simply rename the bridge the War of 1812 Commemorative Bridge was defeated.
Some councillors, including Leamington deputy mayor Charlie Wright, felt that was too generic.
"I think if this was the United States, they'd probably have two statues by that bridge by now," Wright said. "Our history is very bland, and if we don't put some little juice to it, we don't put a face to the things that happen, we're going to lose it!."
After a lengthy debate, county council finally decided to rename the bridge the Hancock-Dean 1812 Bridge to Nationhood.
