Montreal City Weblog

Kate 09:39 on 2020-06-29 Permalink Reply  

• jeather 10:46 on 2020-06-29 Permalink

  I’ve been betting that we will rename things based on not-good anglos, but only anglos, and I continue to believe this is true. (Stop renaming things after people at all, that would be easier. I don’t object to Oscar Peterson as a name for LG station, but I really think we need to just use geographical features for a bit.)

• Michael Black 13:19 on 2020-06-29 Permalink

  That’s okay from a mainstream perspective, but where does it leave under represented people?

  If they were left out in the first place, then now they’d not have a chance. It might even seem a bit deliberate (not from you), close the door before new names can come in.

  I think it’s way more important to make change than tear down statues. Yes, some of those statues directly affect some people, but a lot of this seems to come from third parties outraged, rather than people raging because they are affected.

  James Streer in Winnipeg is named after James Ross, I think just because the family had enough clout. But he was also chief justice in the Red River government (aka the provisional government). And the son of a Syilx woman. That’s way more important than pulling down a statue. Aunt Jemima’s street was renamed to Elgin (I assume after the Lord), and she had self-esteem issues. Imagine being ashamed that her mother was Syilx.

  This Metro station name is somewhat different since it’s both a pulling down of an old name, but also putting up an under represented person.

  But renaiming, or naming, is just a tiny part of what needs to be done, and other things are way more important.