Can a petition persuade Toronto Metropolis Council to cease Dundas renaming?

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The Metropolis of Toronto introduced final week that town accredited renaming Dundas all through town, however compromised by modifying Yonge-Dundas Sq., two subway stations and a public library.

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The scaled-down initiative means it’ll price simply over half of the just about $13 million it was initially going to price.

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However it’s not the cash that’s the subject for some.

A brand new petition was launched on Dec. 16 to place a cease to the renaming of all issues associated to Henry Dundas.

“We demand Dundas Avenue, TTC Stations and Yonge & Dundas Sq. retain the title Dundas until town can afford a sturdy public vote concerning the necessity of a brand new title,” the change.org attraction begins.

“And if that vote concludes {that a} new title is important then a vote on the brand new title ought to comply with.”

The petition, began by Jonny & The Flyer Vault From Toronto, goes on to spotlight the “advanced and wealthy” historical past of the “previous and exquisite metropolis,” one that’s “filled with drama, tragedy and triumph,” to not point out how the road and sq. have every hosted occasions, concert events, companies and milestones that shouldn’t be forgotten.

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“Avenue names elicit inquiry and curiosity, inviting residents and guests into the previous to study and ponder the current,” the petition reads.

“Eradicating Dundas would imply erasing part of our collective reminiscence. Making the choice to take action must be finished with large care and public session.”

It notes that the two.1 million who dwell in Toronto not being consulted on the renaming was a “negligent and misguided” selection on council’s half.

The petition continues, “We discover it Orwellian that authorities officers would select historic erasure over embracing human complexity. No matter (Dundas’s) method to abolition, his private character or in the present day’s ethical conventions, it’s asinine to make such vital adjustments based mostly solely on the calls for of activists.”

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Whereas the creator of the petition isn’t defending Dundas, they do take subject with the brand new title, Sankofa, on account of it having “no historic or cultural significance to Toronto,” in addition to noting that the Akan peoples, from whom the Ghanian phrase originates, “have been themselves avid slave merchants.”

The petition provides, “This isn’t to recommend the phrase itself is tied to slavery nevertheless it does display historical past is murky after we selectively indict the previous to push agendas within the current.

So far as Dundas the person goes, the petition isn’t about him.

“His legacy is for lecturers — not bureaucrats or activists — to debate,” the petition reads, explaining that it’s “a defence of preserving the sophisticated nature of historical past because it intersects with the id of our metropolis.

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“No human being — even our biggest heroes — handed via this life with out blemish,” it continues. “This petition is a name to be vigilant in opposition to activism at Metropolis Corridor that seeks to upend and spend quite than deal with residents as mature, considerate adults who can deal with the complexities and ambiguities of historical past.”

The petition to halt the renaming of Dundas has greater than 4,200 signatures on the time of publication.

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