Dundas not the only Toronto street that ‘embeds racism’ in the landscape, says city official in charge of reviewing thousands of local place names

Thestar.com
August 27, 2020

Dundas is far from the only Toronto street that “embeds racism” in the urban landscape, says the civil servant leading a review that will look at “thousands” of local place names with an eye to possible renamings.

“Our approach, in effect, is not about erasing history, but it’s looking at how history has been commemorated through the way that we’ve honoured figures from the past,” Wayne Reeves told the city’s Aboriginal affairs advisory committee Wednesday.

“We’ve also realized that it’s not just an issue of Dundas Street alone in the city of Toronto -- that there are many place names and city assets that also systematically embed racism and discrimination, and we’re going to be bringing forward some processes to address those broader framework issues.”

Toronto’s Baby Point area, Russell Hill Road and the statues of Winston Churchill, who led Britain during the Second World War, and Sun Yat-sen, Chinese philosopher and revolutionary, have been “called into question,” said Reeves, chief curator in the city’s economic development and culture division.

“We’ll be working through a very thoughtful process on how we’ll thoughtfully and holistically address literally thousands of place names,” Reeves said.

“Toronto has over 6,000 named streets, 1,500 named parks -- there will have to be a sound and rigorous process to systematically go through that very long inventory list of Toronto names.”

City manager Chris Murray launched the review in response to a petition calling for Dundas to be renamed because British politician Henry Dundas in the 1700s “actively participated in obstructing the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.”

City staff will report to Mayor John Tory’s executive committee in September with official findings and a recommendation on action by city council that could range from taking no action to starting a process to rename Dundas Street, plus the namesake public square, subway station and transit lines, and other local landmarks.

Costs to the city and impacts on people and businesses who live on Dundas Street and near places bearing the name will be considered, Reeves told the committee, saying his review has started with places honouring one-time slave holders.

While some people might consider names mere “symbolism,” he said, “we believe that this is in fact a major step forward in addressing how racism is systematically embedded in the city’s urban landscape.”

Cheryl Blackman, the city’s director of museums and heritage service, told the committee that members of the public, including Toronto’s Indigenous and Black communities, will be consulted on the path forward.

“We are looking across the city at the connected naming concerns and we’re trying to think about the ways that we advance the conversation and create a broader dialogue,” she said.

In launching the review, Murray noted it comes amid international protests over systemic racism that started after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.

Rather than wait for change, somebody has crafted and placed unofficial heritage plaques at sites including Jarvis Collegiate and a Baby Point intersection with details about historical racism associated with site’s namesake.