There exist many reasons to oppose the renaming of Wellington Street.
1- Wellington Street and Rideau Street are the original two streets of Bytown.
These were named by Colonel By in 1826 !
Wellington St named after By’s boss, the Duke of Wellington.
2- The Duke’s contribution is highly significant.
Without the personal support of the Duke during his premiership of UK, Colonel By would not have been sent to Upper Canada to build the Rideau Canal. It was also the Duke of Wellington who secured 800,000 British pounds to fund the project.
3- There’s already a street named after Sir John A Macdonald, it’s called MacDonald St within walking distance of Parliament Hill. Albeit there’s a spelling mistake on the street signs, it’s been on the map since the 1850s.
And it runs parallel to Cartier St which leads to city hall, so somewhat important street.
MacDonald St and Cartier St were named in honour of Sir John A and his great ally, Sir George-Étienne Cartier, the leading French-Canadian Father of Confederation.
As an alternative to the campaign to rename Wellington Street, MacDonald St and Cartier St should be renamed Sir John A Macdonald and Sir George-E. Cartier to clarify whom these streets are name after.
4-In September 1852, on the news of the death of the Duke of Wellington reaching United Canada, the legislative assembly adjourned its business to mourn the death of one of the greatest military leaders of all-time. Wellington fought 60 battles and won all of them.
This is significant because it happens during a period when both Macdonald and Cartier were parliamentarians.
Source:
NY Times and Globe news articles
5- In in 1874, Sir John A Macdonald address a crowd and said: “The Duke of Wellington had previously decided that Ottawa was a most important point from a military point of view and had caused the Rideau canal to be built.”
This happened during the demonstration in Ottawa on the 40th anniversary of Sir John A’s entrance into public life.
Source:
see p.29 of
Report of the Demonstration in Honour of the Fortieth Anniversary of Sir John A. Macdonald’s Entrance into Public Life: Proceedings at Toronto and Montréal, Complete List of Delegates Appointed to Attend Toronto Convention (published in 1885)
6- Ottawa is today a word-class city, and Wellington Street is the site of Parliament Buildings which welcome over 3 million visitors every year.
It is the equivalent of the Champs-Éysées in Paris. I bet no one wants to rename that !
7- As the site of Parliament Buildings and the Parliamentary precinct, it welcomes over 3 million visitors every year.
8- Wellington Street is located in the downtown core of our National Capital but also in the Somerset Ward. The town of Wellington (UK), after which the Duke of Wellington gets his name, is located in the county of Somerset.
and more …