VANCOUVER -- Premier Gordon Campbell has asked British Columbians to consider the possibility of changing the name of the Strait of Georgia to the Salish Sea, an idea raised last week by a native leader.

Mr. Campbell, in his first comments on the subject, did not advocate the change but said he welcomed a dialogue on the suggestion, raised by a representative of the Chemainus First Nation on Vancouver Island during the First Nations Summit.

The idea, the Premier said, is "really a matter of political respect and recognizing that the history of British Columbia goes well beyond the history of Europeans coming to these shores."

The new name for the body of water between Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland would underline the fact that aboriginals settled the region thousands of years before Europeans arrived.

"We have said as a government we will consider various first nations names in different parts of the province," the Premier told reporters after a news conference at the main campus of the University of British Columbia on an unrelated issue.

"I am certainly interested in hearing what the first nations feel about it, and what the public feels. We have always, as a government, felt that those initiatives are worth looking at."

The name Strait of Georgia pays tribute to King George III and was bestowed on the body of water by Captain George Vancouver, who arrived in the region in 1792. Salish Sea would refer to the Coast Salish, the original native residents of the area.

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