By Randall Denley, The Ottawa Citizen
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Sir John A. Macdonald is going to get his street, or more precisely, his boulevard.
It looked as if the City of Ottawa had set up a series of insurmountable obstacles to prevent the renaming of Wellington Street in honour of Canada's first prime minister, but Councillor Peter Hume has hacked his way through the bureaucratic underbrush and will bring the renaming proposal to the city planning committee in early July. He's confident that his council colleagues will ultimately support the creation of Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard.
That's great news for local author and historian Bob Plamondon, who conceived the idea of renaming the street and has worked tirelessly to get the job done. Plamondon's crusade has received support from former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and John Turner, Senator Hugh Segal, the CEO of the National Capital Commission, Historica-Dominion Institute president Andrew Cohen and newspaper editorialists and opinion writers across the country.
The idea is an easy one to back. The Duke of Wellington is a major historical figure, but in the Canadian context, he's far less important than our first prime minister.
"He's the founder of the country. Without him there wouldn't be a capital," Plamondon says. The local writer and consultant says his respect for Macdonald increased when Plamondon reviewed his career in detail as part of the research for his book, Blue Thunder, a history of Conservative prime ministers.
Contemporary Canadians might not fully appreciate Macdonald's accomplishments, but he wasn't one of the small people we see so many of in politics today. Macdonald was the key figure behind Confederation and won six of the seven elections he contested. Canada could easily have been swept up into the United States, but Macdonald defined a different destiny for our country. He helped bind it all together with a transcontinental railway, an enormous undertaking.
Plamondon says the idea of doing something special to honour Macdonald first came up in a conversation with running partner and Citizen columnist Mark Sutcliffe. Both are history buffs who felt not enough had been done to recognize Macdonald in the capital, where he gets half-billing on a bridge and an airport.
Having a good idea and making it a reality are two different things, of course. The enthusiastic Plamondon found out that renaming a street is an enormously complex matter in this city. According to city policy, names can't be changed unless there is a public-safety concern. For example, two streets with similar-sounding names that might confuse emergency workers. The city requires public consultation, a staff report and a $2,100 fee to get the process under way. Staff also said there would be a problem with the name, which too long for the standard street signs.
Despite the popular support, the idea didn't look like it had much of a chance of succeeding, but Plamondon decided to enlist the help of Councillor Hume. It doesn't hurt that Plamondon is a well-connected consultant who is often hired to advise the city on its budget.
More than most on this council, Hume has a bent toward getting things done, but like Plamondon, he faced an array of obstacles. City staff didn't have the time or the budget to pursue the idea, he was told. Hume got around that by offering to have his own staff do the report and public consultation. That made it easy for the city's sign bureaucrats to say yes.
"The first PM is the person who knitted us together as a country. He should be recognized," Hume says. "A small statue on Parliament Hill is not enough." Hume's motion in July will initiate a period of public consultation and he hopes that the name-change itself will be approved by city council in the fall. He hasn't spoken to all of his colleagues yet, but Hume says he doesn't expect any opposition.
Some in the community have suggested that removing Wellington's name from Canada's premier street will diminish our British heritage, but there are at least eight major downtown streets named after prominent Brits. After 143 years as a nation, perhaps we can dare to name this major street after one of our own leaders.
Assuming there are no glitches between now and city council approval, Hume and Plamondon will be able to walk down Macdonald Boulevard and say that they have finally given this great Canadian leader the place of honour he deserves in the nation's capital.
The best thing about it is that this is an Ottawa grassroots idea. As Plamondon says, "Leadership and vision for the city doesn't always have to emanate from city council." Good thing, too.
Contact Randall Denley at 613-596-3756 or by e-mail, rdenley@thecitizen.canwest.
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