When I first heard about the Evergreen SkyTrain line, I had a sinking feeling that the word Burquitlam would grace one of the stations.
Sadly, I was correct.
This word – a bastardization of beautiful Burnaby and Coquitlam – has bugged me since I was a kid.
I’m a proud Burnabarian and it’s always annoyed me how people talk about the west side of North Road in Burnaby as Burquitlam.
I hate it.
The City of Coquitlam is serious about the name, using Burquitlam-Lougheed as an actual neighbourhood. To each their own. That’s their choice.
I just hate how the name drifts over into our community.
It was the same for me when I lived in Maple Ridge and worked for a newspaper that also covered Pitt Meadows. People were always combining it into “Ridge-Meadows” – a place that simply does not exist.
Sure, Burnaby shares a border with Coquitlam. We also share borders with Vancouver and New Westminster.
But we don’t say BurWest or Burncouver (or would it be “Vanaby”?), do we?
Yeah, I know, there are a lot of more pressing things to think about. But names are important. Neighbourhood names are identities for the people who live in them. I hate to get all parochial, but I think all Burnaby neighbourhoods should be distinctly Burnaby, and not share some merged moniker with another community.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
