Jane Taber -- Ottawa notebook
May 18, 2010
What's in a name? A Kingston bar has settled the great naming debate in Ottawa –Wellington Street versus Macdonald Boulevard – with suds.
And, though hardly scientific, it seems patrons in the hometown of Sir John A. Macdonald agree that portions of Ottawa’s historic Wellington St. – in front of the Parliament Buildings – should be renamed in honour of Canada’s first prime minister.
“It wasn’t even close,” said Troy Gadbois, manager of the Iron Duke bar, which is named after the Duke of Wellington.
Last Friday, Mr. Gadbois came up with the idea of his patrons voting via pints on the issue as a result of the controversy over renaming the portion of Wellington Street. He felt that a bar in Sir John’s hometown was well-placed to mediate the debate.
Here are the results: 251 pints (Alexander Keith’s beer was designated the pro-Macdonald beer) were sold in favour of the name change compared to 64 (Wellington’s Best Bitter was designated the Duke beer) for the status quo. “The City of Ottawa’s duty is now clear,” Mr. Gadbois says.
An appeal from veteran Conservative historian and author, Bob Plamondon, to rename the portion of the historic street, stirred up the issue. Andrew Cohen, the president of Historica-Dominion Institute, supported his idea.
But it was the subject of some derision on the press. The Globe and Mail editorialists sharpened their pens, arguing that the name change was attempting to “whitewash a little of Canada’s past.”
Mr. Plamondon defended himself, saying this would not threaten “our ancestral heritage.” Rather, the name change would inspire “our parliamentarians, and all Canadians.”
In keeping with the Macdonald theme, meanwhile, political junkie Arthur Milnes, who is the owner-operator of the Sir John A. Macdonald-themed walking tour of Kingston (Coach’s Corner’s Don Cherry is the narrator of one of the tours as is former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien), is offering free tours to anyone who can demonstrate their Scottish heritage.
Mr. Milnes’s offer begins July 1 and is his way of thanking the government and people of Scotland for honouring Sir John by unveiling a plaque in Scotland last week. “As a resident of Kingston, a community that Sir John A. Macdonald did so much for in his lifetime, I felt it my duty to thank the Scottish for this friendly gesture between the nation where Macdonald was born, Scotland, and the nation Macdonald created, Canada.”
Mr. Milnes, a fellow in political history at Queen’s University, is also pushing for the federal government to create a Sir John A Bicentennial Commission in advance of the 200th anniversary of Sir John’s birth in 2015.