Celebrate Canada's first prime minister: just follow the signs

Posted 22 hours ago

Re: "City Hall dead ends idea for Sir John A. Street," by Randall Denley, theOttawa Citizen,Feb. 27.

As a proud resident of Kingston, I want to congratulate Ottawa writer Bob Plamondon for his idea of renaming the portion of Wellington Street in front of the Parliament Buildings after Sir John A. Macdonald of Kingston.

Not being a ratepayer in Ottawa, I will not comment upon the Kremlin-style response that city's bureaucrats have come up with in regards to this excellent idea. I would only point out that in Kingston, Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard does in fact fit well on street signs. To my knowledge, no pedestrians have ever died in Kingston from the naming or renaming of a street.

While bureaucrats at Ottawa City Hall fiddle and fret, I invite residents of Ottawa to visit Kingston and experience our city's new Sir John A. Macdonald- themed walking tour -- In Sir John A's Footsteps! -- written and researched by my friend Arthur Milnes, a well-known commentator, journalist and Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queen's.

Our city hall staff had no problem placing an audio version of Milnes' tour on the City of Kingston's website -- especially when former prime minister Jean Chretien (who as an aside shares John A's January birthday) graciously agreed to voice an audio version that can be downloaded for free. Kingston MP and Speaker of the House Peter Milliken, Sen. Hugh Segal, Hockey Night in Canada broadcasting legend Don Cherry and others have now joined Chretien in doing so.

With the bicentennial of his birthday in 2015 rapidly approaching, Segal wrote last fall:

"(It) is now time for government, the private sector and municipalities like Kingston to band together to create the Sir John A. Macdonald bicentennial commission to ensure the 200th anniversary of our founder's birth is celebrated properly.

"This commission should be announced this coming January and be in place to spearhead efforts at celebrating Macdonald and Canadian history in the five years left before 2015. By harnessing the power of the Internet, engaging students from coast to coast to coast with essay contests, artwork and plays, and partnering with government, business and the media, Canadians can seize the opportunity the bicentennial of our first prime minister's birth presents us to participate in a pan-Canadian celebration. It would be much like the one spearheaded by the Centennial Commission to mark Canada's 100th birthday in 1967."

Bureaucrats at Ottawa City Hall might consider visiting www.cityofkingston.ca/

residents/culture/heritage/macdonald/tour/ to see how celebrating Macdonald can be fun, non-life-threatening and educational. Better yet, they might book a tour and learn first hand by coming here. They just go south on Hwy. 416 to its end and go west on the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway to Kingston, get off at Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard and "follow the signs."

Robert Tchegus Kingston