N.B. drops small community from Trans-Canada Highway signs, outrage ensues

What provincial officials may consider a simple mistake on a highway sign has been seen as a threat to the identity of a  small community in northwestern New Brunswick.

Residents were shocked to discover over Easter weekend that exit signs on the Trans-Canada Highway once directing motorists to the community of Saint-Basile suddenly had a large, blank patch over the name.

"I started receiving phone calls from constituents in the Saint-Basile area asking, 'What's going on?'" said local MLA Jean-Claude D'Amours.

"They were saying they were losing their identity."

Edmundston-Madawaska Centre MLA Jean-Claude D'Amours said the change to the signs was unacceptable and wants to make sure it never happens again. (CBC)

He said he made some calls to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure and was told it was a mistake that would be fixed.

Even though Saint-Basile was restored to the signs by the end of this week, D'Amours does not mince words to describe what happened.

"You will understand that for me, it was unacceptable," he said.

He took to his Facebook page, posting several updates to constituents about the progress of the missing names.

"I spoke with an assistant deputy minister about this unacceptable situation and I am awaiting answers," D'Amours wrote in French in one post.

More than 100 local people had comments to make, with many writing in French that they hope this doesn't happen elsewhere and thanking D'Amours for "defending our community of Saint-Basile."

But he wasn't the only elected official who was concerned by the change. Edmundston Mayor Eric Marquis also reached out to the province and posted an update on the municipal website.

"First of all, I was surprised," Marquis said in an interview. "Naturally, we wanted to know why this wording of Saint-Basile was removed."

CBC News asked for comment from the Transportation Department but has not received one.

Amalgamation is nothing new for Edmundston

In 1998, the city of Edmundaton expanded to include the small neighbouring communities of Saint-Jacques, Verret and Saint-Basile.

D'Amours was a member of Edmundston city council at the time and said one of the agreements the city made with the three areas it was taking in was to keep their names and respective identities alive.

That included leaving the names on the signs. D'Amours said the city advised the province of this.

While some of New Brunswick's recently amalgamated communities are still going through growing pains after local government reform came into place in 2023, or are hesitant to adopt new municipal names, the concept is not new in Edmundston.

"No, this was 26 years ago, and we need to understand the importance of keeping the identity of the communities," D'Amours said.

Jean-Guy Levesque, who grew up down the highway from Saint-Basile, was among those unhappy the community's name had been erased from the sign.

"Since they joined all the small villages into big communities, we don't recognize the individual places," Levesque said.

'So I'm kind of disappointed that the government would do this." He said he knows many people from the area who still don't identify with the amalgamated city.

"Even today if you ask people, they don't belong to Edmundston, they belong to Saint-Basile."

Marquis said he believes the name might have been removed because of an unrelated directive from the city in 2018 that sought to get rid of duplicate street names from the amalgamated areas now part of Edmundston.

Edmundston Mayor Eric Marquis also spoke out against the sign being changed and said all of the amalgamated parts of the city have their own unique identities. (Radio-Canada)

For example, there was a Rue Principale in both Saint-Jacques and Saint-Basile. In the end, Rue Principale in Saint-Basile was allowed to stay, while its namesake in Saint-Jacques was changed to Isidore-Boucher Boulevard.

"So we had asked the department to make sure that the right street names were on [signs], but we never asked to remove Saint-Basile off the signs," Marquis said.

Additionally, Marquis said, the village of Saint-Basile dates back hundreds of years, which makes preserving the name even more important. The regional tourism website for Edmundston says Saint-Basile is important historically as the region's first religious parish, and is often referred to as the "Cradle of Madawaska."

He said the amalgamated areas of the city all have their own culture and identity and coexist now as one city,

On local city-owned streets, he added that the city has signs that still say the names of the former villages.

Amalgamation was and still is the best move for Edmundston, he added.

After the local MLA and mayor spoke out, the name Saint-Basile was returned to area highway signs this week. (Submitted by Jean-Claude D'Amours)

"There are some people that still firmly believe that they would have liked to stay [separate], but there are many people that understand today that moving forward, we are a much better city and we have a better power across the province being all together."

D'Amours said the sign mix-up is an example of oversight from Fredericton. While he is not looking to blame those responsible for the decision to change the signs, he feels it's important to draw attention to it.

"I advised the Department of Transportation, 'Be advised, I will watch what's going on, and I will make sure the names of those past communities are still there," D'Amours said, "Because it's not true that we just erased the names of those communities.

"It's not true, and I will never accept that."