The city's planning and evironment committee narrowly approved consulting the federal government to change the name of a 1.5 km. section of Wellington Street, running in front of the Parliament buildings,to honour Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald Monday.
The proposal was spearheaded by author and tory Bob Plamondon who argues that honouring the country's first prime minister on the capital's most prominent street is more appropriate than honouring an English duke who never set foot in Canada.
“Sir John A. is our founder, he’s our greatest prime minister, this is Canada’s most important street and it makes sense to have them forever linked,” Plamondon said.
His arguement was enough to convince four of the committee's seven members to direct city staff to pursue the proposal.
It costs $2,300 to change a street name in Ottawa, and the city estimatesit will cost $2,000 to poll MPs, Senators, the federal government, and anyone else who can call their address Wellington St.
However, committee chair Peter Hume has offered to pay for the consultations out of his own office budget.
Beacon Hill-Cyrville Ward Coun. Michel Bellemare submitted an ammendment to the motion to re-name the street Macdonald-Cartier Boulevard in order to recognize Macdonald's francophone counterpart in confederation.
Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes voted against the motion saying it was a waste of time.
“We already have a bridge and an airport named after the Macdonald-Cartier combination,” she said.
Some of the city's chief historians came out in opposition to the name change, including Michel Prevost, the chief archivist for the university of Ottawa, and Immanuel Giulea, the executive director of the Macdonald-Cartier Society.
Prevost points to the role the Duke of Wellington played in Ottawa's settlement by choosing to build the Rideau Canal as a defence from U.S. expansion. He also cites the decision of Colonel By, the city's founder, to name one of the Ottawa's first two streets after the duke in honour of his role in convincing the British government to pay for and build the canal.
Wellington Street has eight names already: Wellington Street, Rideau Street, Montreal Road. St. Joseph Boulevard, the Ottawa River Parkway, Somerset Street West, Richmond Road, Robertson Road, and Hazeldean Road.