HELLO JI!

TAKING THE SWIFT ROUTE

Taylor Swift at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, last year. Image credit: STEPHEN MEASE on Unsplash.

I found news of the proposal to rename a street in Toronto after Taylor Swift – during her upcoming tour this month in the city – interesting. Not because I’m a Swiftie. Anything but, I have to clarify, swiftly, but then I have nothing against the worldwide phenomenon that the singer is, either. Let’s just say you won’t find me hunting for the coveted tickets to her concerts.

But Taylor Swift Way got me thinking of all the factors that come into play. The cost, for one. And more relevant, the purpose. For the votes? To show Torontonians how trendy and young-at-heart councillors are? After all, Justin Trudeau had tweeted requesting that Swift not neglect her Canadian fans.

I recognize the need for some light-hearted fun. Of course, we need events where we can sing and dance our hearts out. But really, one has to ask, what’s the lasting ROI on this renaming exercise? Surely the money and effort could have been put to far more effective use in a city where homeless encampments are on the rise and refugees sleep on the streets outside overflowing shelters.

The idea of renaming streets in rotation is, in and of itself, not without merit. There are only that many streets and so many, many people we can and should honour.

Remember the kerfuffle over the renaming of Yonge-Dundas Square?

I believe many of us were astonished by how opaque the process was – certainly more was expected from Mayor Olivia Chow.

“The shortlisted names for both the street and the square were: Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, Chloe Cooley, John Tinsdale, and Sankofa,” wrote Ceta Ramkhalawansingh in an op-ed in the Toronto Star. “Consultation with historical experts concluded that naming should be after a person as the public tended to relate more to an individual than a concept and their stories could be told easily. Sankofa is not a name that has Toronto roots, whereas all three of the shortlisted persons had significant connections to Toronto’s history.

“Tinsley was a successful business owner while the Blackburns introduced the first form of public transit. Chloe Cooley is the name I supported on the committee. Her plight is one of the factors that led Simcoe to introduce legislation to ban the importation of slaves into Upper Canada. If the square were named in her memory, we would have a permanent reminder of the unique role she played in banning slavery.”

So, if renaming prominent streets is something we are considering, why not honour our own? Public figures, scientists, writers, musicians, actors, sports stars... I am certain Ramkhalawansingh can draw up a long list of names that we can rotate. Names with real connections to the city, names that we should all be proud of and certainly, know more about.

As a Canadian civil servant and former politician and someone who served as a member of the Recognition Review Advisory Committee and is president of the Grange Community Association, she will also have better ideas on how the money could be put to better use.

Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti!

Shagorika Easwar