Critics slam Montreal's plan to rename Vimy Park after Jacques Parizeau
Proposal to rename Outremont borough park called 'outrageous' and 'blasphemy,' among other things
Critics have quickly pounced on a proposal put forward by Montreal's Outremont borough council to rename Vimy Park after former Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau.
The borough received permission from the City of Montreal's executive committeeWednesday to change the park'snamein honour of former Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau, who died last year.
He lived on a streetadjoining the small park for years.
Montreal cityis expected to vote on the name change at its meeting on Monday.
The proposalwas widely rebuked on social media, with people calling it"outrageous" and "blasphemy," among other criticisms.
Former Liberal MP Bob Rae tweeted Thursday that the proposed name change was an "insult pure and simple."
Changing a park in Montreal from "Vimy" to "Jacques Parizeau" - and this during the 100th anniversary of WW1 - an insult pure and simple.
—@BobRae48
Columnist Andrew Coyne, a regular contributor to CBC The National's At Issue panel, chimed in on the discussion, tweeting "Holy freakin' hell" in response to CBC's coverage of the proposal.
Holy freakin hell. https://t.co/jp4NMa95Nx
—@acoyne
Commentators on CBC Montreal's Facebook page were unanimous in their opposition to the move, using terms like "idiotic" to "disrespectful" to describe the proposal.
One, Michael DiCiero, asked "Have they lost their frikken marbles?"
Parizeau, arespected economist before entering politics, gained infamyfor blaming"money and the ethnic vote" in the wake ofthe No side's victory in the referendum.
- Jacques Parizeau, former Quebec premier, dead at 84
- VIDEO:Jacques Parizeau's English referendum victory speech now public
"Canadians of all types came together to win at Vimy. All Parizeau did was try to tear us apart," wrote Facebook user John Yarymowich.
"This guy tried breaking Canada up, how about you pick a street or something else, VimyRidge was a very important piece of history that should not be changed for a person who wanted to divide and break up the country," wrote Jason Allen.
Corrections
- A previous version of this story stated that Outremont borough council would vote on June 20 on renaming the park. In fact, Montreal city council will be voting.Jun 17, 2016 1:23 PM ET