EDITORIAL – Taking Henry Leyland’s name off building was the right move

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

RE-NAMING MOUNTAINS, parks and buildings is a tricky business. It’s become popular in this age of correctness but has to be handled carefully.

Until this week, there was a transitional housing building in downtown Kamloops called Henry Leyland House, formerly the Whistler Inn. It was renamed after a homeless man who froze to death in 2007. He was regarded as an admirable victim of society — a “kind soul” — who represented the need to do more for the unhoused.

But then, police in Wenatchee, Washington, announced that Henry Leyland was undoubtedly the killer who beat 35-year-old Carol Traicoff to death in that city in May of 1986. Sadly, Traicoff hasn’t been much more than a name in news stories these past few days, with the focus being on Leyland.

Police discovered his involvement after applying new DNA technology in what had been a cold case for many years.

ASK Wellness, which operates the transitional housing facility, acted with lightning speed, removing Leyland’s name from the building within a couple of days.

Just what it will be re-named remains to be seen but it might be wise to heed a suggestion from the Armchair Mayor, who wrote in 2018 that “It’s a lot safer not to name new facilities after people.”

That free advice came after ASK Wellness had to change the name of Osborne House to Mission Flats Manor only a couple of weeks after it opened, after it was revealed that its namesake Donald Osborne had a criminal past.

And, certainly, it’s entirely appropriate that Henry Leyland’s name be removed from association with the downtown facility. Rather than hemming and hawing and appointing a committee, ASK Wellness reacted almost instantly and did what needed to be done.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, writes for the Kamloops Chronicle and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and was a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.