Canadian mayors object to renaming of Dundas Street amid slavery row

The city council had previously voted to rename Dundas Street

Three former Toronto mayors have asked the city to reconsider its decision to rename its Dundas Street – named after Scottish politician Henry Dundas, who has been accused of perpetuating the slave trade.

The city council voted in 2021 to rename the street — a major artery running east to west through the city — after a petition signed by thousands of people in the summer of 2020 noted Dundas acted to delay the abolition of the slave trade.

Now in a letter sent to the current mayor and council last week, Art Eggleton, David Crombie and John Sewell call Dundas a "committed abolitionist" – a view widely dismissed by historians on the subject.

Toronto's former mayors asked the current administration to reconsider plans to rename Dundas Street.

Critics of Dundas have said the MP's gradualist approach, which allowed the practice to continue for a further 15 years, was instrumental in deferring the abolition of slavery.

But in their letter, the former mayors suggest Dundas was "doing the best he could" under "challenging historical circumstances."

"It appears that Henry Dundas … was a committed abolitionist who, when facing strong opposition and certain defeat, rather than give up his quest, advocated for interim measures that would ultimately lead to that result," they said.

They note before he was a politician, Dundas represented Joseph Knight, whose case affirmed the principle that any enslaved person could claim their freedom in Scotland — though historians have cautioned against taking a lawyer's argument in court as representative of personal political beliefs.

The letter concludes by saying, "from a practical perspective", there are "more appropriate ways to spend $8.6 million [£5m]" – the latest estimate the city has provided for the renaming.

Andrew Lochhead, the author of the original petition to rename Dundas Street, told Canadian media the mayors’ objection was "disappointing".

"These folks have significant political capital and they're defending the reputation of someone who lived over 200 years ago, who by no stretch of the imagination could ever be described as someone interested in the abolition of slavery," Lochhead said.

Toronto City Council told The Scotsman that renaming the street “furthered the city’s commitment … to building a more inclusive and equitable Toronto”.

A spokeswoman said: “City council directed the city manager to convene a community advisory committee made up of Black and Indigenous leaders, along with other diverse residents and business owners living and working along Dundas Street, to develop a shortlist of new names for Dundas Street and Yonge-Dundas Square.

“With ongoing collaboration and support from the community advisory committee, the city plans to release the shortlist of names for public feedback in fall 2023. Based on feedback from the public surveys, as well as research on the history and use of each name, committee members will then select a new name (or names) for the street and/or square, which will be presented to city council for consideration in early 2024.”

In Edinburgh, the council has put in place a permanent interpretative plaque at the Melville Monument in St Andrew Square to explain Dundas's role in delaying abolition.