Toula Drimonis lays out why it’s unsuitable to name the Griffintown REM station after Bernard Landry.
La Presse covers tireless self-promoter Donovan King’s protest against the name.
Drimonis suggests naming stations – why this one needs a name other than Griffintown, I do not know – after “some women, some artists, some Montrealers of diverse origins.” Tricky thing here, since Griffintown itself is named after one Mary Griffin, who, quoting Wikipedia, “illegally obtained the lease to the land from a business associate of Thomas McCord in 1799. She then commissioned land surveyor Louis Charland to subdivide the land and plan streets for the area in 1804.”
I recall hearing that this happened while McCord was abroad for a time, and when he returned to Montreal he found his land had been developed and sold off piecemeal without his knowledge. Mary Griffin would make a great mascot for real estate developers, but she’s clearly not someone most of us need to recall with more honour.
However, I say just name the station Griffintown. That’s where it is, why confuse matters?
Spi 14:35 on 2019-12-10 Permalink
This in many ways reminds me of when they tried renaming Avenue du Parc into Robert Bourassa. Didn’t consult anyone, just an overly eager politician making a decision they thought would be popular.
What surprises me the most is that this is coming from Plante, she wasn’t part of the political class doesn’t have to pay homage to a predecessor.
Chris 15:03 on 2019-12-10 Permalink
Would be a strong feminist message: a woman can cheat and steal as well as any man! 😉
david100 19:29 on 2019-12-10 Permalink
My take on this “controversy” is that it doesn’t matter to anyone who’s really complaining about it. Like, zero. This is a bunch of theater contrived by a bunch of people who have to fill column inches, or the modern equivalent.
The real issue here is obscure, and has to do with Valerie Plante’s reelection or some other plan she has. The “why?” here has not got enough attention in this matter. This is the only thing work reporting on but, in classic fashion, instead people have lazily taken up angryphone arguments and US-imported wokeism.
But there’s still time to get to the bottom of this! What’s behind Plante’s thinking on this? Is this an electoral move? If so, what does it imply about her electoral flank or what she thinks is going on? Was it something that Plante personally felt was important? If so, why? What’s her background that ties her to Landry or the family? Was it an executive counsel or chief of staff position that was thrust upon her? If so, why? Was it a Caisse plan that she’s being forced to take credit for? If so, what’s the calculus there? Is this a way to curry favor with Legault? With someone in Legault’s government? What’s going on? This move comes from basically nowhere, and serves no obvious constituency. So what’s going on??
The news people who care about this should report on that, which is actual, real news, and not just throw up a bunch of opinions that waste everyone’s time.
Then again, that’s just my opinion.
Kate 09:03 on 2019-12-11 Permalink
david100, you cannot see why the remnants of the Irish community have 2 points here? One, that if anyone or anything should be commemorated in the area, it should be the Irish working class community that used to be centered there, or someone connected with it; two, that if anyone is commemorated, it should not be a politician associated with a generally anti-Anglo tendency?
david100 14:10 on 2019-12-11 Permalink
Yeah, I can see the point, but in the end it doesn’t matter, and the people duly making a show of pretending they care are just putting on a show.
But there is a real story here! Namely, how on earth did the idea come to pass? It’s very weird, and the explanation is probably pretty interesting, and certainly newsworthy at the very least!