Request made to change spelling of Fort Mackay

The Métis local in Fort MacKay is asking that the municipal council of Rural Municipality of Wood Buffalo consider changing the spelling of the community’s name to Fort McKay. “The First Nations already identify themselves as the Fort McKay First Nation. The Métis community already self-identifies as Fort McKay. If you drive down Highway 63, all the signs say ‘Fort MacKay,’ so it’s a clarity issue we would like to get support on,” President Ron Quintal of the Métis local told council in an August municipal meeting. The community’s name is also spelled wrong as the town was named after Dr. Williams Morrison McKay — the first resident doctor in Alberta and the first president of the Northern Alberta Medical Association — in 1912. The Métis delegation also requested that the Métis flag be raised at municipal buildings. Fort Mackay is a hamlet in the Rural Municipality of Wood Buffalo.