A prominent Conservative senator and a leading Canadian history advocate have endorsed a controversial bid to change the name of Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill to Sir John A. Macdonald Street in honour of the country’s first prime minister.
But Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes is balking at the suggestion to redesignate one of Centretown’s main roadways – which would have to be approved by city council – because “people become very upset about having their street name changed.”
Ottawa author Bob Plamondon, who has chronicled the history of the country’s Conservative political leadership, urged in a recent op-ed piece in the Ottawa Citizen that Wellington Street be renamed to commemorate Macdonald’s contributions as Canada’s leading Father of Confederation.
Plamondon says the idea came as a result of research done on Macdonald for his latest book, “Blue Thunder: The Truth about Conservatives from Macdonald to Harper.”
“I don’t think I would have thought about this idea before I had done my research on Macdonald,” says Plamondon.
“Macdonald is not someone who I really truly appreciated until I read 10 or more biographies and looked at how relevant his thinking was.”
Plamondon says he has received hundreds of emails backing the proposed name change.
Senator Hugh Segal represents the Kingston area where Macdonald launched his political career in the mid-1800s.
He says that “as a general premise, the failure to commemorate historical figures who shaped Canadian history reflects a profound dereliction of duty by both the private and public sector.”
Segal recently argued in a Toronto Star article that Canada should undertake a major commemoration of Macdonald on the 200th anniversary of his birth in 2015.
“Canadian governments have not been good at this, in fact,” he said in an email interview. “They have been largely small-minded and profoundly cheap. The ‘Sir John A. Way’ would allow guides on Parliament Hill to take a moment and explain how central to the very idea of Canada John Macdonald was.”
Don Brousseau, a senior policy officer for the city, says direction from city councillors is needed to change any street name. He added that there could be a risk to public safety if a change leads to confusion among emergency responders such as police, firefighters or paramedics.
“You can’t just change the name of Wellington,” he says. “It would be a massive disruption to the businesses located along the street. That’s part their identity – they’ve chosen to live on Wellington Street, or Rideau Street.”
Wellington Street is named for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the British general who played a leading part in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.
He later served as Britain’s prime minister when Canada was still a British colony.
Brousseau says public consultations are a priority for the city and would hugely influence the direction of any name-change proposal.
“Some people think it’s an easy thing to do,” says Holmes.
“Having tried it a couple of times, people become very upset about having their street name changed.”
Holmes says most of the streets in Ottawa were “historically named for a purpose. The Duke of Wellington, who played a very important role in our history, would be replaced by someone else who played an important role.”
Plamondon says that regardless of any additional road blocks, he will continue pushing the idea.
“They didn’t dead-end it by saying no,” he says. “But I found the process to be oppressive and unnecessary.”
Plamondon says he will weigh the pros and cons, and will continue to consult people as he promotes Sir John A. Macdonald Street.
Andrew Cohen, president of The Historica-Dominion Institute, called Plamondon’s idea “innovative.”
“As part of the country’s (Macdonald) bicentennial celebration, renaming Wellington to Sir John A. Macdonald Street would be a wonderful idea,” he says. “Wellington is distant and irrelevant in terms of the Canadian experience.”
Plamondon says the commemorative street name would not only remind passers-by of who Macdonald was and what he did, but also the country’s politicians.
“Every parliamentarian should be reminded of Sir John A. every time they go to work,” says Plamondon.
Plamondon has yet to put forward an official city proposal, but will do so once he “gauges reaction to it.”