The Toronto City Council voted yesterday in favour of renaming Dundas Street and all other amenities using the same name. The Council’s vote tallied to 17-7 allowing them to move forward and start publicly consulting for a new name.
Dundas Street, named after the Scottish minister Henry Dundas was known for slowing down the abolition of slavery within the British Empire. However, recent news has sparked negative connotations towards the name Dundas. After the vote, Mayor John Tory said “This recommendation is the right decision in our continuos path to building a Toronto that is inclusive, equitable and reflects values of its diverse members.”
The city has put a Community Advisory Committee to be in charge of the renaming process. The Committee will be comprised of Black and Indigenous leaders, as well as representatives from the diverse communities along Dundas Street and Business Improvement Areas.
Chris Murray the city manager told CP24 last month, it may take until 2023 to remove all the street signs with Dundas on it. He explained, “We’re looking at 2022 to 2023 to first, select the new name, and then secondly to actually physically go and start to take the name of Dundas on the street and the other symbols where it is used right now.”
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