A debate has been sparked regarding the naming of three new streets. Among the candidates on a shortlist by the City is the former Mayor Rob Ford.
There was a time when Rob Ford’s name, not to mention his antics – were all the talk on social media.
These days, it’s usually his equally divisive brother, Premier Doug Ford, who garners the lion’s share of attention.
But the former Toronto mayor, who passed away from cancer in 2016, was once again trending at the top of Twitter on Tuesday after the City of Toronto announced he could soon have an Etobicoke street named after him.
Ten potential names have been shortlisted as the city looks to name three new Etobicoke Centre streets as part of the transformation of the Six Points Interchange.
Ford, who was both beloved and bemoaned with equal vigor during his colourful career in municipal politics, was among the names whittled down by city staff from 600 public submissions.
The city is encouraging the public to weigh in on the shortlist, rating each name on a scale of 1 to 5.
According to the city’s website, once the voting is complete, “a panel of City officials will provide a final recommendation on the new street names to Etobicoke York Community Council who will make the final decision.”
The final street names will be announced in the fall of 2019.
The following are the 10 potential street names the city of Toronto is considering going with:
- Rob Ford: Rob Ford served three terms as the Councillor for Ward 2 (Etobicoke North), and served as Toronto’s 64th mayor from 2010 — 2014.
- Adobigok: Meaning where the alders grow, the Mississauga First Nation called Etobicoke Creek and the area around it ‘Adobigok’.
- Biindagen: Means ‘enter’, ‘come in’ or ‘welcome’ in Ojibwe.
- Darwyn Cooke: Darwyn Cooke was an award-winning comic and graphic artist who grew up in Six Points/Etobicoke Centre area.
- Diversity: Diversity represents today’s community and is borrowed from the City’s motto, ‘Diversity Our Strength’.
- Jerry Howarth: Jerry Howarth is a long-time Etobicoke resident and voice of the Toronto Blue Jays for 36 years, from 1982 to 2018.
- Dr. Judith Pilowsky: Dr. Judith Pilowsky is a clinical psychologist known for her contributions in promoting mental health.
- Wadoopikang: The name ‘Etobicoke’ was derived from the Mississauga word wah-do-be-kang (wadoopikang), meaning ‘place where the alders grow’.
- Westwood Theatre: The Westwood Theatre stood near where the new streets are located, and served the Six Points community as a gathering place for many years.
- Dr. W.K Fenton: Dr. W.K Fenton lived in the Six Points area from 1898 until his passing in 1955. He was an active member of the local community through his medical practice where he delivered many babies.
Stay tuned for updates when the final name is chosen.
T man was a bright, crazy light 💡 in an otherwise boring environment, he was exceptional, accessible, made mistakes, most of us have, worked for the people,even in death still has his enemies 🙄, overall I don’t see anything wrong with that, in fact I miss him 😔he was unique