Ottawa city council votes to dump Trump Avenue

Ottawa city council votes to dump Trump Avenue

City councillor objected to honouring U.S. president in light of Trump's threats to Canada

Ottawa city council voted Wednesday to rename a street that was named after U.S. President Donald Trump more than 20 years ago.

River ward Coun. Riley Brockington moved to change the name of Trump Avenue at the Sept. 9 city council meeting, saying Trump does not deserve the honour in light of his repeated threats to Canada.

His motion was approved without comment from anyone but Brockington, who said it was time for a new beginning for the street's residents.

Brockington said he will now lead a public consultation process to select a new name for the street in the Central Park neighbourhood off Merivale Road, which includes other New York City-themed names such as Bloomingdale Street and Staten Way.

Brockington said Trump Avenue's new name could stick to that theme.

A working group will be formed to go over options, Brockington said. The goal is to have a new name for the next city council to vote on by April, May or June of next year.

His motion came after Trump imposed tariffs on many billions of dollars worth of Canadian goods and signed an order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America. Canada has retaliated with tariffs on an equivalent value of U.S. imports.

A previous effort to rename Trump Avenue in 2021 fell through after a consultation found residents split on the idea, with many who opposed the change expressing concerns about the inconvenience of changing their home address.

With files from Arthur White-Crummey