How many things must we name for old white guys?
The suggestion that renaming things erases our history smacks of hypocrisy
What’s in a name?
A whole heck of a lot when it comes to Montreal place names these days.
The Irish community is up in arms over having to share the name of a new REM station in Griffintown with former Quebec premier Bernard Landry, saying it negates their deep roots in a neighbourhood he has little connection to.
As of Monday, more than 19,000 Montrealers have signed a petition to have the Lionelgroulx métro station named after legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, who grew up in nearby Little Burgundy.
And in light of the reckoning over racism underway across North America sparked by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, there is a petition calling for the removal of James Mcgill’s statue from the campus of Mcgill University over his slave-owning past.
It’s an opportune moment to examine how our toponymy reflects our past, who we decide to honour, and how well the map of Montreal reflects its diversity — past and present. These are thorny questions that touch on our understanding of history — the good, the bad and the ugly.
Quebec is plastered with the names of saints, real and invented, which adorn city streets and small rural villages. There is no shortage of clergy remembered, too. This includes Lionel Groulx, a Quebec priest, historian, nationalist — and anti-semite.
How many things do we need to name after the same old white guys?
Jacques Cartier has a bridge, square, river and national park named after him, along with many streets and schools. Similar story with Samuel de Champlain.
There is also a reflex to name things after politicians. Besides Landry, a section of highway was just baptized for late Quebec MP Jean Lapierre.
Politicians engage in public service. But there are other ways to contribute to society, through science, the arts and community work. Surely there is room for a little more variety in what we call things.
We have seen a laudable effort to name more things after women, in recent years. When former mayor Denis Coderre launched the Toponym’elles initiative leading up to Montreal’s 375th celebrations in 2017, only six per cent of Montreal’s streets were named after women. Today singer Lhasa De Sela, aircraft engineer Elsie Macgill, folk legend Kate Mcgarrigle and soon community activist Lucia Kowaluk join nun Jeanne Mance on Montreal’s map.
Last summer, Montreal city council renamed Amherst Street in Ville-marie borough Atateken Street, swapping the name of a reviled general for a word that means brotherhood and sisterhood in Mohawk.
This should continue, either by restoring Indigenous place names, remembering Indigenous figures or marking millennia of history before Montreal was “discovered” and founded 378 years ago.
The argument that changing names erases history is hypocritical. After all, the island of Montreal was once called Tio’tia:ke, meaning “where the currents meet,” in the language of its first residents, the Kanien’kehá:ka people. The original name for the St. Lawrence River was the Kaniatarowanenneh, which translates as “big waterway” in Mohawk. All of this was rechristened when European explorers began to colonize North America. They set the precedent for stripping away names.
There is also a case to be made for contextualizing history rather than sanitizing it. It would be educational if Sir John A. Macdonald was known for his genocidal policies toward Indigenous people as much as being the first prime minister of Canada. It would be eye-opening if William Lyon Mackenzie King were remembered for turning away a ship of Jewish refugees and barring immigration from China as for his wartime leadership.
Place names often hew to a narrow historical narrative, neglecting the impact diverse cultures, communities and individuals have had on our city.
There are many people worthy of having their names grace public spaces and so few new things to name, we would be remiss if we didn’t consider renaming a few existing places for the sake of renewal. Celebrating Oscar Peterson with a métro station seems like a good place to start.
These are thorny questions that touch on our understanding of history — the good, the bad and the ugly.