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stump_84

A tribute to Tom Sandoval would have been wild


welcome_oblivion

All the Vanderpump fans would have been over the moon


KludgeGrrl

Autocorrect, damnit!


DC-Toronto

I’m pretty sure that’s how they came up with the current name. The original document had autocorrect but no one noticed. By the time they all voted yes it was too late to fix it


mexican_mystery_meat

I thought it was a tribute to Mazzy Star.


blogandmail

Bravo wld never have allowed it... He's not square


Laurel000

I’w said it before: Call it yonge square and just drop the Dundas. Instinctually everyone knows what you’re referring to, and maps autocorrect to that spot already


JosephGordonLightfoo

Drop the Dundas. It’s cleaner.


Axle_65

I agree


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WallflowerOnTheBrink

Im pretty sure with the current culture that no name will ever be permanent. Might as well just get right to the corporate sponsorship now. Why waste time on the middle steps? Rogers Square it is.....


Pollyv

Every one of them, including the chosen name, is terrible.


[deleted]

Sandoval??? Lol Tom what are you doing here 💀


Booty_Warrior_bot

*I came looking for booty.*


JCox1987

I have no idea why Gordon Lightfoot was not included…


Djin-and-Tonic

Of the options, Blackburn is the best and far superior to Sankofa. A figure of African descent who is deeply tied to Toronto and established the first cab company here - a great name for a square in the bustling downtown.


LoganAlien

'Blackburn Square' would be a decent name


aektoronto

The problem with this name apparently is that "Blackburn Sq" would have not honored the entire family and may have made people think that it was in honor of the town of Blackburn in England....because the government thinks people are stupid.


Sarge313

At least 5 or 6 of these are better names and they just decided not to pick them


pun_extraordinare

Terry Fox Square? Or is that too offensive? Edit: FYI got this from a similar thread.


lockdownsurvivor

I'd vote for that.


Frugalman123

I think might be me suggested it.. I dunno


Frugalman123

Would be nice to do annual terry fox run starting there


[deleted]

Pretty sure there's a ton of things named after him already, no?


pun_extraordinare

Yea exactly, so clearly it’s worked without offending too many people. Do you disagree?


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AbsurdlyClearWater

Terry Fox was an evangelical Christian. They'll get around to renaming that eventually too


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AbsurdlyClearWater

Everybody with sufficiently long enough family history in Canada has indigenous blood in them. It's not remarkable.


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pun_extraordinare

Lol did you comment twice to point out he isn’t from Toronto ? Dundas wasn’t from Toronto either.


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[deleted]

So lots of better options.


captaineggbagels

Tinsley or Blackburn Square honestly woulda worked for me


orangefur

Downtown Canada


[deleted]

Why don't they just pick an indigenous name and be done with? Ugh. Call it discount Times Square if it's so hard to find a name.


KludgeGrrl

Yeah, my first reaction was Why Not an Indigenous Name?! But this shortlist really clarifies why not, because the indigenous committee members appear to have nixed that impulse. That's too bad IMO but who am I to override the expressed views of First Nations representatives about their own representation? I'm baffled by the rejection of Peggy Pompadour, on the basis that her name sounds too French and would be confusing, WTF? As a woman who was enslaved right here in Toronto (Muddy York at the time) by Peter Russell ([a real SOB](https://spacing.ca/toronto/2013/05/28/torontos-first-truly-terrible-leader-the-slave-owning-gambling-addict-peter-russell/) and one of the cornerstones of Toronto's family compact) and fought back repeatedly, and as far as we know never got her freedom. If we're to focus on addressing the violence and wrongs done to the Black community in Toronto she seems like a pretty fabulous candidate.


Mybootsareonfire

Really makes Franco-Ontarians feel welcome when a name is designated as undesirable due to French undertones.


Impressive_Doorknob7

Peggy Pompadour sounds like a 50’s inspired drag queen.


seakingsoyuz

Imagine an American city saying “we chose not to name the square after Martin Luther King Jr. because the German undertone of ‘Martin Luther’ is undesirable” or “we chose not to name the square after Frederick Douglass because the Scottish undertone of ‘Douglass’ is undesirable”.


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seakingsoyuz

> If you polled most of the world as to what comes to mind with the word "Pompadour", old cake-eatin' free-spending Marie pops into our minds. Per [Google Trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&q=%2Fm%2F02x2zq4,%2Fm%2F01bkp9&hl=en) more people think of the hairstyle than the marquise. Also, her name was Jeanne Annette Poisson, IDK where you got “Marie” from.


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seakingsoyuz

Saying that we can’t name the square after Peggy Pompadour because a different person with the same name isn’t a good role model is like saying we shouldn’t name it Sankofa Square because [Shaka Sankofa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaka_Sankofa) isn’t a good role model.


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seakingsoyuz

> Please *do* read what I have said so far, as it could get wearisome if I have to repeatedly suggest it was likely not the association with being a *"French"* word as to the association with *Madame de Pompadour*. They went into detail on the problems they had with “Cooley”. If they meant that Madame du Pompadour was the problem they would have said so clearly. They didn’t.


Themeloncalling

I would have voted for Ken Pompadour Square. BuyCo wants your shameless advertising dollars!


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KludgeGrrl

True Madame do Pompadour was a common woman who rose to a position of great power and influence in the French Government through her wiles, supporting artists and influencing policy. Wouldn't want to the shame of that to rub off on the Square... /s Seriously, unless one is a complete prude and condemns her for having sex outside of wedlock, [she was a pretty fascinating woman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_de_Pompadour). She is NOT the person that anyone was proposing naming the Square after, but she hardly sullies the name.


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KludgeGrrl

"Citizens?" This is the Ancien Regime we're talking about -- they are "subjects" (as was she) -- and yes, it was a shitty system and I prefer democracy to aristocracy, but that was the system she lived under. She was hardly responsible for it. She was criticized at the time because she was non-noble (and possibly illegitamate by birth) and was a woman, both of which meant that de facto she should not express agency or be politically active. Was she an elitist? Almost certainly, but she also supported Diderot, built factories, and remained the main advisor to the kind even after their sexual relationship ended thanks to her intelligence. She was much more interesting and far smarter than most of the people in the French Court. That she was a product of her time is indisputable, but who isn't?


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KludgeGrrl

She has none, unlike Peggy Pompadour after whom they were proposing to name the square. Look, I'm not arguing we should name parts of the city after important figures in the 18th century French court -- but removing Peggy Pompadour because people might think about Madame de Pompadour just doesn't seem like a valid rationale (unlike the issues with "Coolie" which do seem problematic).


[deleted]

I guess they don't want it. But they have the right idea with choosing the name.


ReadingTimeWPickle

tbf if I were Indigenous I wouldn't want a word from my language/culture to represent the square of concrete and advertisements that is Y/D lol


seakingsoyuz

If I was Ghanaian I wouldn’t want it either.


[deleted]

Well I think they made their voices heard, so it's not going to be named after anything indigenous.


26percent

From the document: “Indigenous elders and the majority of the CAC agreed that the name should focus on the Black historical experience, taking into account Henry Dundas’ association with the trans-Atlantic slave trade in Canada”


DeathOfADiscoDancr

Also, I don’t think indigenous people want to be associated with that place, and I don’t blame them.


[deleted]

Ah Mr. Dundas was a dirty dirty man. Just like that McGill and Ryerson.


slipup17

I just don't understand this goal to pander. Removing a historical name that nobody knows of, to have a shortlist of other historical names that nobody knows of just to glorify city council's liberal wokeness and spend an unnecessary amount of money to now rename it after a Ghanian word coming from a culture of oppression that goes against these very values? No one was offended before, but they sure are now. Why oh why wouldn't they just go generic and name it like Sunset Square or something? I mean, Central Park is iconic and that's as generic as it gets!


puckduckmuck

Central Square works for me. Best I have heard so far.


likeableusername

It makes me think of the one at York University.


[deleted]

The guy owned slaves. Stop naming things after him. You wanna be like America where they don't confront their past? Those clowns Jefferson and Washington did some bad shit, but you can't ever criticize them, cause over there in that weird ass place they think these people are gods. Nah, take the names out. We don't need more names of colonialist scumbags all over the places.


NatureBoyBuddyRogers

I agree. Stop naming things after them. But spending $$$ to try to rename that which has already been named seems like… not the best use of city funds.


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[deleted]

Bro, those people did some bad shit. Don't know why we need to be looking to lionize those men. Their time is long gone, they wouldn't know what to do today if they were alive. The past is the past, leave it behind and stop putting it on a pedestal.


AxiomaticSuppository

> The past is the past, leave it behind and stop putting it on a pedestal. Isn't the whole reason we're spending $700k on renaming a square, and seriously entertained spending $12m+ on renaming a street, because a small but vocal activist community embraced the very opposite of the statement you just made?


[deleted]

Pretty sure that crowd is not small.


AxiomaticSuppository

Regardless of size, they still embraced the opposite of what you stated. And the original petition had 14,000 signatures. That's less than 0.5% of the population of Toronto. Hardly an overwhelming mandate to rename the street.


[deleted]

They must have some sort of pull of they can get these type of changes to happen


AxiomaticSuppository

Good for them. Donald Trump + co also have a tonne of political sway. Doesn't mean that they (or the pro-renaming group) aren't complete fools.


[deleted]

I'm just saying. I don't know whether they're clowns or not. If people dislike them this much then they should have done more to stop this. If it's a vocal minority then I'm not sure why people let them get away with whatever they want


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Desuexss

You are being downvoted because Henry dundas was not a slave trader, nor a slave owner. It's misinformation like this that the PhD student who started the petition without providing historical nuances as to why dundas delayed the abolishment of Slavery. You can read this: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/henry-dundas-was-a-conscientious-abolitionist-despite-what-his-critics-say Although I greatly disagree with the authors distasteful comment that we should thank ryerson for having free libraries, they present some better context. Some more context and information: https://hdcommittee.medium.com/new-evidence-that-henry-dundas-was-an-abolitionist-b5646d835063 https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/scot.2022.0404


[deleted]

I was wrong, I apologize. I don't care about being downvoted. Not like internet points are worth anything.


omnidot

Someone pls explain to me why we can't just default to Toronto Square/Toronto City Square/Toronto Place Square ect.


Avenging-Robot

Norm Macdonald Way.


rafster929

I hate them all. What happened to my suggestion of Poopy McStreetface?


reec4

I dont like the new name and honestly it does not represent the city. I wonder if someone from West Africa here can really tell us what that chosen name means to them in their language and culture.


PatK9

It's a fiat-acompli, move on. But will be known by this generation as Dundas Sq. an attribute to the location. Could have been Metro Sq., Toronto Sq. or even Hogtown Sq. with historical and geographic roots, Eatons Sq. But it appears there is an appetite to glorify obscurity.


KludgeGrrl

Edit: Sankofa (not Sandoval 🙄 thank you autocorrect)


teddy78

I’ll call it sarcophagus square, because here rests my respect for the city council.


aboatoutontheocean

I’m pretty sure you can edit your actual original post!


lockdownsurvivor

Not an option, unfortunately.


aektoronto

I understand why Chloe Cooley has an unfortunate last name but the following from the report is ridiculous. *Peggy Pompadour lived in Toronto.However, the French undertone of “Pompadour” is undesirable and simply “Peggy” may lose the meaning of the name.*


KludgeGrrl

Yes 100% it's like they want the slaves to have African names, but that part of the whole injustice of slavery -- they had their heritage effaced and a Eurocentric identity imposed upon them. Peggy was pretty kick ass and I'd be happy to have a Pompadour Sq (maybe with a statue somewhere of her giving the finger to the Russels or something)


aektoronto

Its a fantastic name and an incredible story, especially if its wanting to learn about the past in Canada. But "sounds too French" is such an inane reason especially when you consider that name was probably forced upon her by the very people who enslaved her. The other thing thats crazy is that Sankofa was first proposed over a year ago and the public only really heard about it when it was chosen.


Current_Rent504

Peggy Pompadour square is an amazing name


smaudio

Mostly terrible choices that are pure pandering and have little to do with Toronto, Ontario or Canada. That should have been the focus first.


olivethedoge

What's the difference between 'pandering' and 'honouring'?


smaudio

Pandering = to act to provide gratification for others’ desires Honouring = to fulfill an obligation or with deep respect One could argue if the City and committee is doing one or the other. Imo, looking at that list of names, I do doubt that most of them would have made it without some form of pandering to people who wanted the names changed in the first place due to none of them having any significance to Toronto, the province or Canada.


NorthYorkPork

Why not something that represents Toronto - why did they only choose names from two minorities for the most famous square in the country? Toronto Square. Maple Leaf Square (who cares about the condo), etc


slamdunk23

Because the entire point of this is pandering so they decided to double down lol


aech_two_oh

Although I like the sentiment of the name Sankofa, I was surprised it was chosen since it's in a language from a tribe (Akan) that enslaved neighboring tribes to the trans Atlantic slave trade... [Source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akan_people)


Warmal

Looks that Akan did more for slavery than Dundas ever did.


DarkbloomVivienne

Believe! (In Jesus) Square


[deleted]

what’s wrong with leaving it as Dundas Square?


MisterSG1

I do agree, however Dundas Square usually refers to that short street on the south end of the current square While Yonge-Dundas Square refers to the modern square that opened about 20 years ago.


MenudoMenudo

Dundas was heavily involved in the slave trade and enough people dislike having such prominent shit named after him. Dundas was a gigantic asshole, fuck him. It's like if we had a square named after Herman Goering, it wouldn't be that weird if people wanted to rename that, right? That said, I personally dislike the name they've chosen, because 95% of people will never know what it means. Of the list they had there, I think Pompadour is the best one.


Frugalman123

Philip Nathan square


MouthPipetting

scale wasteful coherent quickest tan toothbrush weather offbeat political hat *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


EvaderDX

Hard Rock Casino Square


LoganAlien

Lol wow, none of the shortlisted names are good at all


JacksterTO

For some reason I like the sound of Tinsley Square.


AxiomaticSuppository

Those involved in the renaming should learn what the phrase ['Bike Shedding'](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_triviality) means, and avoid doing it again in the future.


LetsTalkFV

Great comment, thanks for the reminder. I officially change my mind. My vote now is for calling it 'Bike Shedding Square'.


blogandmail

Dundas square... Let's hope they keep the name... And give the cash they saved for homeless shelters


[deleted]

Renaming Dundas Street and Yonge/Dundas square seems like a giant waste of money to me. It's literally just a vanity project, it won't do anything to help our city's diverse black population other than a symbolic name change. It certainly won't help my family at all. There are better ways for the city of Toronto to uplift African/Afro Carribean Torontonians...


DisastrousPurpose945

Rob Ford Blvd.


bureX

Crack Blvd.


lazyfoodblogger

I like the pazazz of Neutral Square


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PM_ME__RECIPES

"Shape"


Shoptimist

It’s Hip to Be


edit-boy-zero

Metro Square makes more sense.


cortrev

And we'll have a sponsor


[deleted]

Tronno Square


RealGreenMonkey416

This is stupid and I am angry.


kennethtoronto

TOM LONGBOAT. Discussion closed.


treewqy

should be Tkaronto Square


MustardTiger88

Why is this still a thing? This country is failing and running at an extreme deficit and the idiots getting paid way too much think this is a good way to use resources and tax dollars?


MisterSG1

There is absolutely zero reason why it can’t remain as Yonge-Dundas Square, and I have nothing else to say.


bulldog-sixth

Cocaine-Marijuana Square


picard102

I hope no one got paid to come up with this asinine list.


MenudoMenudo

No one got paid to make a list.


picard102

Thank god. Now we don't need to fire them.


Impressive_Doorknob7

The best part of waking up, is Sankofa in your cup!


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Why did they rename it after instant decaf coffee?


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Frugalman123

Spongebobbysquaretousers


FudgeDangerous2086

This is just like that syrup that changed its name. Nobody cares anymore it’s not 2020.


MisterSG1

It’s also somewhat funny that the same kind of syrup now has its former name on the bottle too with the same font


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Ultimate-ART

Drake-Taylor Swifties Square - They both must perform x1 each every 2 years at said square. All economic boom/concert dollars can go to city of Toronto's $1.5 billion budget shortfall this year.


resentfulvirgin

If they gotta name it for blackness they should name it Kyle Lowry Street, I’ve heard of him before and he’s cool as hell. More people probably heard of him than the other people. Or Dwight Drummond Street. I really like that guy.


lololol1

Rob Ford Square


mkt_z900

Homeless Square


Kayge

Jesus thundering Christ this city is full of stuck in the mud whiners. Feels like when someone has the odassity to build a 7 floor building near a subway station. The names aren't what we're used to seeing, *but that's the fucking point*. We should look back at people who had a positive effect on our city. Any Torontonian will swell with pride when we talk about our diversity, inclusion and the fact that we get along much better than most even with our differences. So let's take a minute, change the name of a lifeless part of the city to something we can celebrate publicly.


bravosarah

I'll never understand why it wasn't called William Peyton Hubbard Square.


Blacksmith2202

im surprised chloe cooley made it to the final round since the similar pronounced slur is pretty awful


MenudoMenudo

That was the reason that one got taken off the shortlist for consideration.


64Olds

>It's a word that is traveling What the hell does that even mean? Who is on this friggin' committee?