By Randall Denley, The Ottawa Citizen
There is no such thing as a simple idea in this city. Ottawa writer Bob Plamondon suggested in a Citizen article this week that the portion of Wellington Street in front of the Parliament Buildings be renamed for our first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald.
There is no disputing the Duke of Wellington’s important place in British history, but surely it would make more sense for Canada’s premier political street to be named after one of our own. And who better to honour than the man whose distinguished career took place right on that very street? The idea seems so self-evidently good that one would have to wonder who would actually be against it.
That’s where Ottawa City Hall comes in, of course.
According to the city, changing the name of Wellington is a gargantuan task and virtually impossible. In response to Plamondon’s inquiry, the city official in charge of such matters was able to produce a long list of reasons why Sir John’s name will not be on our street signs any time soon.
First, street name changes are only considered where there is a public safety issue. In other words, where emergency services personnel or the public could be confused by similar-sounding streets. What if an angry taxpayer had a heart attack in front of the Parliament Buildings and instead of being dispatched to Sir John A. Macdonald Street, the ambulances went to MacDonald Street in the Golden Triangle or John Street in New Edinburgh? Anything is possible. The ambulance might even head to the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge or to the Macdonald-Cartier International Airport. You can see that the name change would mean Parliament Hill would be littered with dead pedestrians.
One does have to note that street signs on Wellington now also use the name Confederation Boulevard. Surely the double naming is potentially confusing to those not wise to the ways of Ottawa, especially considering that Confederation Boulevard is also the second name for a number of other streets, some of which are in Quebec. The federal government has chosen to apply the name to the streets that make up its ceremonial route, although Confederation Boulevard has no legal status.
Although public safety is said to be paramount, there are still many streets with the same name, differentiated only by street or avenue. That’s the legacy of amalgamation, even though more than 50 duplicate names have been changed.
Should someone be motivated enough to want to change Wellington to Macdonald, that individual would have to fork over $2,100 to cover the cost of the city process that would follow. There is the public consultation, the report to council, the cost of amending maps and databases, and the cost of the new street signs themselves.
Which, by the way, couldn’t possibly include a name as long as Sir John A. Macdonald Street, city staff say. Sir John A. St. would fit, but then there is the John Street problem. It’s all so complex.
Arlene Gregoire, the city manager in charge of all things to do with signs, says the city’s limited sign staff would be overwhelmed by the task of handling the Sir John A. matter. This year would simply be out of the question. With only a half-time person available and pressing issues like the report on the advisibility of placing replica cows on the roofs of buildings, there is just no time to work on renaming Wellington. The only option would be to hire a consultant, Gregoire says.
Plus, if Wellington became Sir John A., people would be confused because the existence of a Wellington West implies that there would be a Wellington East, Gregoire says. Not that we call Wellington that now, of course, but still.
Then there is the matter of consulting all those on Wellington. Surely that would be simplified by the fact the street is densely populated with federal institutions and not much else.
One certainly shouldn’t blame Gregoire for the mass of bureaucracy. These are the rules and procedures that exist. She actually likes the idea of the name change. Bob Plamondon “has brought forward a very compelling argument, but it would be a massive undertaking to do this,” Gregoire says.
“Anyone who thinks renaming the street in front of Parliament poses a public safety issue has taken leave of their senses,” Plamondon said in an interview. “I have received hundreds of e-mails in support of my idea and only one who opposed. Strangely enough, it was from a municipal politician.” He won’t say which one.
In Sir John A.’s day, Canadians were capable of creating a country and linking its parts with a cross-continental railroad. Today, we find the challenge of changing a street name overwhelming. Of course, if we had politicians on the Hill or at City Hall who really cared about this country’s history, they could quickly cut through all the bureaucratic rigamarole. Anyone up to the challenge?
Contact Randall Denley
at 613-596-3756 or by e-mail, rdenley@thecitizen.canwest.com