Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
I do find that there are many "missing" street names in Ottawa, when you consider that it is the capital after all. Sir John A. Macdonald is notably missing some type of prominent recognition. Some other prime ministers are relatively absent as well. As are the names of many provinces and cities also.
That said, I am not sure that renaming stuff that is already named after someone significant like Wellington is the best approach. As others have said, banal names like the Airport Parkway might be a good idea. The Ottawa River Parkway, often called the Western Parkway, could also be a prime target for a nice renaming.
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I agree that there might be streets "missing" but renaming historical streets in the downtown core is not the solution.
As founder of the Macdonald-Cartier Society, it would make no sense for me to argue against more commemorations for Macdonald or Cartier, the two most prominent and known Fathers of Confederation.
That said, there 36 of them, and elevating one above all others shows disrespect. Wellington Street is already part of the NCC ceremonial road
Confederation Boulevard.
As for not enough recognitions of Macdonald, let's examine what Ottawa already has :
- statue of Sir John A. Macdonald on Parliament Hill
- MacDonald Street (misspelled) in Somerset ward, named after him since 1880s.
- Macdonald-Cartier Bridge linking Gatineau,QC to Ottawa
- Macdonald-Cartier International Airport
Elsewhere in Ontario:
- Macdonald-Cartier Highway
- statue at Queen's Park in Toronto
- boulevard in Kingston
- Historic site at his grave in Kingston
- Bellevue House in Kingston
- schools named after him in several cities
Despite all these recognitions, people still manage to misspell his name McDonald or Mcdonald or MacDonald.
So, in conclusion, the common-sense approach is to commemorate someone without wrecking the memory of someone else.
There is the "Airport Parkway" that leads to the Macdonald-Cartier Airport.
So why not rename it Macdonald-Cartier Airport Parkway or Macdonald-Cartier Parkway.
Immanuel
p.s. Did you know that apart from Ottawa, the only other Canadian city that has statues of both Macdonald and Cartier is Montreal,QC ?