There is a lot of debate when it comes to the renaming of Yonge-Dundas Square as Sankofa Square

BY PAUL JUNOR

The vote on Thursday, December 15^th, 2023, to rename Yonge-Dundas Square as Sankofa Square has sparked widespread reaction.

It was in 2021 that Toronto City Council started the process to investigate the renaming of Dundas Street as well as other city properties that are associated with the Dundas name. The article revealed that the renaming of the almost 23 kilometers of Dundas Street will not take place because it has been forecasted that it would take between $11.3 million and $12.7 million for the project to be completed. The motion that Councilor Chris Moise presented passed 19-2. The Toronto City Council will examine further the possibility of renaming Dundas West Station with the involvement of the Toronto Metropolitan University, and the library board will consider the renaming of Jane/Dundas Library.

There was a petition mentioned on the Ezra Levant Show. Ezra Levant interviewed Jennifer Dundas who is a retired Crown prosecutor, former CBC journalist and descendant of Henry Dundas. She mentioned that two of the most famous abolitionists in Britain were supportive of Henry’s position regarding a gradual end to the slave trade instead of an immediate one. She told Levant, “Both William Wilberforce and the patron of the abolition movement, the Duke of Gloucester, started saying publicly that they regretted having rejected Henry Dundas plan and now we have Toronto saying no, William Wilberforce was right in 1792 when he denounced Henry Dundas for wanting to move gradually instead of all at once and only on the abolition of the slave trade.”

Ezra has launched a petition, “Don’t Let Olivia Chow Replace Toronto’s history with lies.” Details of the petition can be seen on the website:SaveDundas.com and the interview with Jennifer at the website: https:// www.rebelnews.com/henry dundas. The petition states, “If you agree that we shouldn’t cancel and condemn the memory of historical leaders who are momentarily unfashionable. If you appreciate the role that Henry Dundas played in our history; if you value the role that the British Empire played in achieving the end of slavery-please sign our petition here to save Dundas.”

Historian Melanie Newton posted an article titled, “Henry Dundas, Empire and Genocide.” She writes, “Suggesting that ‘the uncrowned King of Scotland’ worked to end slaver, rather to entrench it, is irresponsible revisionism and bad history.” She provided important historical information regarding Henry Dundas and his role in the anti-slavery movement that is interesting.

Josh Matlow, Toronto City Councilor for Ward 12 located in the Toronto-St. Paul, wrote about the renaming in his email to residents on Thursday, December 21^st, 2023. He is supportive of the decision to deny name change. He writes, “With the city facing unprecedented financial challenges, I am convinced that spending tens of millions of dollars to rename streets is not a priority while: transit, affordable housing, and many services Torontonians rely on every day are desperately in need of significant investment.”

He believes that the compromise solution is the best option although the cost of $300,000 is paid for primarily by the developers through section 37 funds. He is particularly concerned that the Yonge-Dundas Square Board of Management was not rightly consulted by the local councilor and City Council.

For Councilor Matlow, the naming of Dundas Square to Sankofa Square reflects an inclusive process. He mentioned that “It was chosen at the conclusion of a two-year process by the city’s selected advisory committee, made up of leaders from Toronto’s Black and Indigenous communities as well as the local business community.”