City council’s surprise vote to rename Yonge-Dundas Square came after a personal intervention from Mayor Olivia Chow, who proposed a change of plans to a key advisory committee just two days before the decision was made, the Star has learned.
Chow attended a Dec. 12 virtual meeting of the committee responsible for developing a shortlist of new names for Dundas Street and related properties, and according to two sources, she proposed that its members recommend just one name that would only be applied to the square, not the whole street, and which could be submitted for council approval almost immediately.
The new name itself was selected by the committee, not the mayor. Their choice — Sankofa, which refers to a West African concept about reflecting on the past — has been described by supporters as a fitting way to address Toronto’s history of anti-Black racism, but the lack of notice about the decision that reframes a major downtown public space has been met with criticism by some involved.
The chair and vice-chair of the Yonge-Dundas Square board both resigned in the wake of the Dec. 14 council decision, citing governance concerns, while one member of the advisory committee said the process had been “hijacked.”
“I engaged in a process where I thought I would hear what the public had to say. The public never got a chance,” said Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, the city’s former director of diversity management and civic engagement, who sat on the committee.
During 18 meetings held over two years, members were always working towards creating a list of new names the public could weigh in on, according to Ramkhalawansingh. A city spokesperson said earlier this year a shortlist would be released this fall for public feedback, before the committee made a final recommendation to council in early 2024.
“To have that undone in a number of seconds is I think problematic,” Ramkhalawansingh said.
Chow campaigned in June’s mayoral byelection on a pledge to “open up city hall” and give residents more input on important decisions. Asked how she squares that with the snap Yonge-Dundas vote, the mayor’s spokesperson, Arianne Robinson, said in an email Chow had taken “a pragmatic approach … to start fulfilling council’s commitment to rename Dundas St.”
“In doing this she advanced the City’s commitment to confronting anti-Black racism, addressed a historical wrong, and advocated for a more inclusive and equitable city where everyone belongs,” Robinson said.
The mayor’s office said the committee did solicit feedback on the Dundas issue, including consultations undertaken by a research firm in the fall of 2021, and collecting online input.
Council voted in 2021 to rename Dundas St. and related civic assets under then mayor John Tory, after receiving a petition signed by 14,000 residents who urged the city to cut ties with the roadway’s namesake. Henry Dundas’ legacy is disputed, but many experts agree he helped delay the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade while an 18th Century British minister.
The city convened the 20-member advisory committee, made up of Black and Indigenous leaders, affected residents and business owners, to suggest alternatives.
By the time Chow took office in July amidst a major budget crisis, however, the plan to rename the 23-kilometre thoroughfare was facing headwinds over its projected cost. The mayor pledged to follow through with the plan, although by the fall she said she would be open for a less expensive compromise.
Chow’s office confirmed that on Nov. 29, she met with committee co-chairs Melanie Newton and Catherine Tammaro to “discuss a way forward” on the renaming. By that time, the committee was getting close to finishing its work. It was scheduled to meet Dec. 5 to discuss the shortlist of new names.
But on Dec. 4, members were informed the meeting was cancelled. The city confirmed to the Star that it was postponed until Dec. 12, one day before council was set to meet for its final session of the year, in part so that the mayor and a senior city staffer could attend.
The city will launch its 2024 budget — the first of Mayor Olivia Chow’s term — on Wednesday.
Andrew Francis Wallace/pc28StarAccording to Ramkhalawansingh and a second source, who had knowledge of the committee’s deliberations but requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, when the mayor logged onto the Dec. 12 meeting, she pitched the idea council would approve two days later: shelve the proposal to release a public list of potential names for Dundas St., and instead recommend one name for Yonge-Dundas Square directly to council. The city would also find new appellations for the Dundas and Dundas West subway stations, as well as the Jane/Dundas Library.
Chow told the committee they could recommend a name for the square in time to be considered by council that week, but if they weren’t able to, the issue could wait until January.
According to multiple sources, Chow mentioned an inquiry submitted to the December council agenda by Coun. Stephen Holyday, an opponent of the renaming. It had revealed the estimated cost for signage, communication, and public engagement on the original Dundas plan had risen to as much as $12.7 million, up from an earlier projection of $8.6 million.
The committee got on board with Chow’s plan, and after she left the meeting, members landed on “Sankofa.” On Dec. 14, Coun. Chris Moise, the local councillor for the square, introduced their recommendation to council in a motion without notice. It was seconded by Chow, and the cost-saving compromise passed 19 to 2. The city will have to find just $700,000 in next year’s budget to cover the cost of the new plan.
Newton, who is an associate professor of history at the University of Toronto, said that after Tory resigned in February, the city put the committee’s work on pause, and the group always understood that the new mayor could take a different approach.
“We understood that we might, at some point, receive new direction,” Newton said.“And for most committee members, this was acceptable.”
She said it wasn’t true that the public wasn’t consulted on the renaming, citing the feedback the committee solicited earlier in its mandate. “Literally the only thing that in the end was decided not to do was just a survey of the shortlisted names,” Newton said.
Newton and Ramkhalawansingh both said that while some members favoured other names, the committee, which made decisions by consensus rather than majority vote, got behind “Sankofa.”
“Everyone agreed in the end that this was a good choice,” Newton said.
The other three proposals that made the shortlist would have honoured historical Black luminaries with connections to Toronto: .
Yonge-Dundas is scheduled to officially take its new name by late 2024.
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