Tories would win again today
Minister John Baird checks out a sign Aug. 15, 2012 after the National Capital Commission announced a new name for the Ottawa River Pkwy.
Credits: JON WILLING/QMI AGENCY
OTTAWA — The Ottawa River Pkwy. has been renamed the Sir John A. Macdonald Pkwy. in recognition of Canada's first prime minister.
That obviously pleases Ottawa historian Bob Plamondon, who previously pushed the City of Ottawa to rename Wellington St. in front of the Parliament Buildings after Macdonald.
He found a more receptive ear on the Hill, with the National Capital Commission and Conservative cabinet minister John Baird giving a big thumbs up to renaming the scenic parkway after the Tory prime minister.
"I think it's great," Plamondon said after the announcement Wednesday along the parkway at Deschenes Rapids. "I was looking for a suitable replacement, not to damn Macdonald with faint praise, but to give him something that was suitably grand."
Plamondon said he and broadcaster Mark Sutcliffe have been trying to come up with ways to recognize Macdonald, and the parkway — a federal road leading to Parliament and known for its vistas to the Ottawa River — was a logical choice.
NCC boss Marie Lemay said the renaming costs $50,000-60,000, mostly because of the costs of the signs.
jon.willing@sunmedia.ca
That obviously pleases Ottawa historian Bob Plamondon, who previously pushed the City of Ottawa to rename Wellington St. in front of the Parliament Buildings after Macdonald.
He found a more receptive ear on the Hill, with the National Capital Commission and Conservative cabinet minister John Baird giving a big thumbs up to renaming the scenic parkway after the Tory prime minister.
"I think it's great," Plamondon said after the announcement Wednesday along the parkway at Deschenes Rapids. "I was looking for a suitable replacement, not to damn Macdonald with faint praise, but to give him something that was suitably grand."
Plamondon said he and broadcaster Mark Sutcliffe have been trying to come up with ways to recognize Macdonald, and the parkway — a federal road leading to Parliament and known for its vistas to the Ottawa River — was a logical choice.
NCC boss Marie Lemay said the renaming costs $50,000-60,000, mostly because of the costs of the signs.
jon.willing@sunmedia.ca
