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Name change to Phare Lake inches closer

Wormy Lake is a step closer to being renamed to honour John Phare, a tree faller who was killed fighting a wildfire near the lake in 2015.
Phare Lake Sign
A hand-carved sign placed by community members at the lake many now call John Phare Lake.

Wormy Lake is a step closer to being renamed to honour John Phare, a tree faller who was killed fighting a wildfire near the lake in 2015.

Community members have already adopted the name John Phare Lake informally, and local trail builders posted a hand-carved sign in the area in early 2016, about the same time that Sechelt council passed a resolution to look into an official name change.

The Sunshine Coast Regional District voted last December to support Sechelt’s application to the province.

The Oct. 3 Sechelt council agenda included a letter of confirmation from provincial toponymist Carla Jack that her office has now started the formal review process.

The name change requires an exemption from the regulations for naming geographic features in B.C., which say they cannot be named “to commemorate the victim(s) or to mark the location of mishaps, accidents or tragedies.”

Phare was posthumously awarded the province’s first Medal of Good Citizenship in October of 2015.