Prompted by a suggestion from a community member, councillors on Sechelt’s public works, parks and environment committee have asked district staff to look into if, and how, Wormy Lake could be renamed for John Phare.
Phare was the Roberts Creek man killed fighting a forest fire near the lake last summer. He was posthumously awarded the province’s first Medal of Good Citizenship in October 2015.
However, the idea of Phare Lake could hit a roadblock in the rules around naming geographical features in B.C.
The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations’ geographical names office follows guidelines set out by the Geographical Names Board of Canada.
A so-called “commem-orative” name won’t be considered until it’s been at least two years since the person’s death, and the guidelines state: “Geographical features are not named to commemorate the victim(s) or to mark the location of mishaps, accidents or tragedies.”
At the committee’s Jan. 27 meeting, chair Darren Inkster pointed out that although the lake is accessed through Sechelt, it’s actually in the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), so the proposal would have to go through the SCRD board.
Coun. Darnelda Siegers also raised the importance of fully understanding how the name Wormy Lake came to be in the first place, in case it has historical significance.
“I would be pleased to take that suggestion to the SCRD, and find out if they have any information as to the original naming or if that’s just a local name for the lake, which is quite possible,” said Coun. Alice Lutes, Sechelt’s director at the SCRD.
Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons said he hasn’t been approached by anyone in the community about the idea so far, but he’s willing to support it.
“I will help however I can to make it happen,” he told Coast Reporter. “Residents of the Coast will see the name and remember John’s sacrifice, and since the lake is on the Sunshine Coast Trail, hikers and visitors from everywhere would be introduced to a hard-working logger who saw the beauty of nature.”
