Dundas Street, John A. MacDonald and sanity

[Phantom Gtowner]

In regard to changing the name of Dundas Street and taking down statues of John A. MacDonald etc.:

Okay, I've got a few changes I'd like made. I am of English heritage and frankly I feel uneasy every time I'm in the vegetable and fruit section of the Superstore. I think we should change the name of "limes" because when I first showed up in this great country people called me a "Limey". Let's call them greenies. And what about our German friends? Shouldn't we change the name of sauerkraut? Americans and Canadians derisively referred to Germans as "krauts" during the Second World War and much later. Maybe we'll call it "fermented cabbage". And while were on that subject we need to change the name of frogs so that all our French Canadian friends don't feel suicidal when they get to the wetlands. We'll call them "green amphibians". We can get through this!

What in the world is happening to people who used to be of sound mind and body? Has the soda pop, processed cheese and video games altered their brains? Whether we like it or not, Mr. MacDonald was the first prime minister of Canada. Maybe he was a lot of things that might be frowned upon today but the 19th century is not a time associated with liberal thought. Prime Minister MacDonald was the guy who got the transcontinental railway built. He wasn't a dud by any means. 21st century people cannot use their yardstick to measure the 19th century. You and I could have been racists then and we still might be today. (As for "eliminating racism", I'd really like to know their plan because it's not going away very soon.) I'm ashamed to admit I have used racist epithets in the distant past simply because I was young, ignorant and uncaring. But these kinds of words haven't been in my vocabulary for decades. Please let's return to some kind of sanity. Also if changing the name of Dundas Street costs money (and it will, a lot) then those who want it changed should pay the entire shot, not the government! Not us! I believe if a plebiscite was held on this subject it would be rejected by 99 to 1. My two cents.