If you can damn a founding father of Canada, you condemn the memory of anyone else in Toronto
Tonight, Ezra picks apart cancel culture in Toronto amid the city's push to rename Dundas Street – at grave cost to taxpayers.
The name Dundas Street has existed in modern-day Toronto for over two centuries. Named in honour of Scottish politician Henry Dundas, First Viscount Melville.
BREAKING: Staff at the City of Toronto have doubled their estimate of the cost of renaming Dundas Street.
— Jennifer Dundas (@jldundas) December 13, 2023
The new estimate is $11.3 – 12.7 million.
In June 2021, when staff recommended renaming Dundas Street, they said it would cost $5.1-$6.3 million. Earlier this year, media… pic.twitter.com/nURyeWQdzC
In June 2021, city staff recommended a name change, pegging costs at $5.1 million to $6.3 million. However, the City Manager updated the estimate to nearly double that tally.
Earlier this year, media reports quoted an unofficial estimate of $8.6 million. The new estimate is upwards of $12.7 million.
But noticeably absent are the costs for renaming businesses, says former CBC reporter Jennifer Dundas. Staff have never disclosed the cost to reimburse some 4,500 businesses for changing their addresses or business names – adding several millions of dollars to the bottom line.
