Things got heated during an executive committee meeting on Tuesday when some Toronto residents called for officials to abandon plans of renaming Yonge-Dundas Square to Sankofa Square.
The meeting was called to review the governance and operation of the renamed square. Mayor Chow and her allies voted unanimously to move ahead with the project.
Some members of the public who spoke at the meeting were in favour of the plan but others objected to the proposed costs and lack of public consultation.
“We’re here to tell all our elected leaders, who work for us, as their constituents, that it’s not acceptable. We know there’s an election in October 2026 and we’re not going to tolerate it,” Daniel Tate said at the meeting, who is a co-creator of a petition objecting the name change, which has garnered over 30,000 signatures as of publication.
However, Councillor Paula Fletcher contradicted Tate, later telling reporters that many of the signatures on the petition are not from locals.
Another councillor suggested that the opposition is rooted in racism.
“I think the real issue here is anti-Black racism. If this was named after another prominent Caucasian, we wouldn’t have this discussion today,” Councillor Chris Moise, whose Toronto Centre ward includes the square, told reporters, adding that he has received pushback online and over the phone.
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City council already approved the renaming of the square back in December, as well as the renaming of three other city spots named after Scottish politician Henry Dundas.
The name change was prompted by a petition that spotlighted the fact that Yonge-Dundas Square’s namesake played a part in the delay on ending the Transatlantic slave trade.
Until now, council had called for the renaming project to be paused due to financial strains. The rebranding of Sankofa Square is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
Last week, the city revealed that the name change might cost up to $600,000 more than anticipated. The board who is responsible for managing the square predicts that the name change could cost a total of $1 million, the Toronto Star reports.
Both Moise and Chow have maintained that $335,000 of the cost will be covered by the Section 37 Fund, meaning no taxpayer money will be dedicated to the name change.
“These are landowners, developers that are developing in and around the area, they contribute to section 37 and that’s where the money comes from,” the mayor said on Tuesday.
City officials say additional funding will come from third-party financial partners and support.
The item was adopted by the committee with amendments and will be considered by Toronto City Council on June 26.
RENAMING TORONTO’S YONGE-DUNDAS SQUARE
The new name for the popular Toronto destination was suggested following work by a 20-member committee of Black and Indigenous leaders, diverse residents and business owners living and working on Dundas Street.
The committee looked at different options for the new name, having conversations and consultations with members of the public.
“Its literal translation comes from the Akan proverb, ‘Se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenkyiri,’ meaning, ‘It is not taboo to go back for what you forgot (or left behind)’. Sankofa is a phrase that encourages learning from the past to inform the future,” reads a website dedicated to the square.
TORONTONIANS REACT
Online, many people in the city are sharing their thoughts on the name change. Some people are not in favour of the new name itself.
“The issue is that this name has no meaning to 99.9% of all Torontonians. We should have gone with an Indigenous name,” wrote one X user.
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“I can’t comment on Sankofa Square as a name. I don’t know the history and I’m in no place to decide if it’s appropriate (based on any criteria). But it does feel like it’s being done as a throwaway. It seems like a “better than nothing” option,” someone else commented.
“What’s wrong with Gordon Lightfoot Square? or if we want to honour Afro-Canadians, Lincoln Alexander Square, or Willie O’Ree Square? Sankofa is a term that has absolutely no connection to Toronto whatsoever.”
While other people are calling the name change performative.
“Taking a random word from Africa and using it to cover up our alleged historical relationship with the slave trade is the most blatant and cynical type of cultural appropriation you can imagine. This is just an idiotic flex from the left wing Councillors and honestly, it’s better they f**k around with this instead of something that matters,” one Reddit user commented.
Meanwhile, there are people who are in favour of the new moniker.
“I will say it again… Sankofa Square sounds nice. And better than clumsy cross-streets. When the square was created the name was never considered to be permanent. Something interim until a better fit. Even without having to mention the “Dundas” baggage, I don’t see the issue,” one person wrote on X.
“Good. Yonge-Dundas isn’t really the name of a square anyway. It’s an intersection.”
