Ottawa city council approves Trump Avenue name change

Trump Avenue in Ottawa. City council voted Wednesday to start the process to find a new name for the street in the Central Park neighbourhood. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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Ottawa city councillors moved unanimously to remove Trump Avenue signs in the city’s Central Park neighbourhood and will form a working group with residents to rename the street.

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The city-led effort to rename the street was first introduced in August amid an escalating trade war, punitive tariffs and an effort by the White House to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America.

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Ottawa city council passed the motion to rename the street on Sept. 23, hours after the U.S. president renewed hostilities toward Canada in a social media post criticizing the country’s immigration policies.

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“I could speak at great length why I believe strongly it is time to rename Trump Avenue, but I don’t want to give a platform any more to the person who’s on the current street sign blades,” Brockington told his fellow councillors on Wednesday. “I do believe this is about a new beginning, and I want this to be a community-led process where the community ultimately will select and recommend to city council what that new name will be.”

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Brockington said he will form a community group with three to five residents of Trump Avenue to draft a list of alternatives.

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The Central Park neighbourhood was constructed in the 1990s with many of the streets named around a New York City theme.

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Trump Avenue “was never intended to be commemorative,” City of Ottawa staff said in a statement.

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“The city aims to ensure street names reflect current naming standards and community values. Under today’s commemorative naming criteria, the name would not meet the requirements for a commemorative street name.”

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An attempt to rename the street failed in 2021 after Trump’s first term in office, when 42 votes were received from the 62 homes on Trump Avenue, with 21 in favour of changing the name and 21 opposed.

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Brockington said he’s received overwhelming support for renaming the street since the idea resurfaced in recent weeks.

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“I’m embarrassed about a street in our city, let alone my ward named in his honour,” Brockington said after introducing the notice of motion earlier in September. “We’re at the point where it’s just completely unacceptable to have the street named after this individual.”

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Brockington said he’s received “overwhelming” support from the community and the city, along with a flood of support from across Canada, the U.S. and countries around the world.

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Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he supported the motion as long as residents on the street are willing to go through the administrative process of changing their documents with an updated street address.

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“I don’t like the idea of anything that’s named for Donald Trump, who’s demonstrated hostility towards Canada, in our city,” Sutcliffe said.

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