It’s official. Toronto’s most iconic public square — the beating heart of the city’s downtown — has been renamed Sankofa Square. The name comes from Ghana, and means "reflection on the past," but what past are we reflecting on? Yonge-Dundas Square wasn't a monument to British politicians Sir George Yonge and Henry Dundas, whose names just happened to grace the street signs that intersected there, it was simply a public space that belonged to Torontonians. It was the place where street performers juggled flaming torches, where tourists snapped selfies under neon billboards, and where locals gathered for concerts, protests, and Christmas markets..MORGAN: Another day, another mass burial hoax.The push to rename the square began in 2020, when 14,000 Torontonians signed a petition to remove Dundas' name over his decision to delay the abolition of the slavery in the British Empire. In 1792, Dundas amended a motion calling for an abrupt end to the barbaric practice, suggesting a gradual approach was more likely to succeed. It did. His amended motion received majority support, and the British Empire banned slave trading 15 years later.While some have painted his move as capitulation to slaveholders, others argued that by pushing for a phasing out of the purchase and ownership of human beings, he helped ensure that it actually came to fruition..Yonge was a British colonial administrator who served as Secretary at War from 1783 to 1794 before ending his career by taking part in a scheme to smuggle 800 slaves into the Cape Colony for personal profit. It's fair to say Yonge and Dundas were far from perfect, but this isn't really about their legacy.Following a two-year consultation process led by a city advisory committee stacked with activists and bureaucrats, the square's new name was revealed. To people's surprise, it had no connection to Canada, no resonance with most Canadians, and no relevance to the square itself.A subsequent poll of Torontonians revealed overwhelming disapproval — 71% saying they did not want this change..CARPAY: Neither freedom nor democracy is destined to live forever.Sankofa Square is not a name that reflects our shared heritage. It's a name that reflects the ideological capture of our institutions by the woke left. From coast to coast, Canadians are watching as their public spaces are rebranded, repurposed, and rewritten by a small but vocal minority.Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and City Councillor Chris Moise have framed the renaming as a gesture of inclusivity and healing. But healing from what? Yonge-Dundas Square was never a shrine to colonialism. It was a civic space, a gathering place, a crossroads. And now it's a symbol of something else entirely: a city that's more interested in virtue signalling than in preserving its own culture..If the square had to be renamed — and that’s a big if — then why not choose a name that reflects Canadian values, Canadian history, or Canadian identity? Why not honour a Canadian hero, like Terry Fox or Viola Desmond? Why not call it Maple Square, or True North Square, or even Dundas Reconciliation Square?Instead, we got Sankofa — a word most Canadians had never heard before, tied to a culture most Canadians have no connection to, chosen to mark a day most Canadians don't celebrate. The renaming ceremony was held on International Sankofa Day, a United Nations commemoration of the slave trade's abolition. That's fine for Ghana. But this is Toronto.The square’s new branding promises to be "inclusive, accessible, and community-driven," but the community wasn't driving this change. The activists were, and the inclusivity seems to exclude anyone who dares question the narrative. Try raising concerns about the name, and you'll be labelled racist, colonialist, or worse..WATCH: Vancouver's Trutch St. officially becomes šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm.This is not how a democracy should function. Public spaces belong to the public. They should reflect the people who use them, not the ideologies of those who manage them — and they should be named in ways that make sense to the people who live there, not in ways that make headlines abroad.Across Canada, statues are being toppled, streets renamed, and history rewritten. It’s happening in schools, in museums, and now in our city squares. And if we don’t push back, it will keep happening. It started in the east, but this trend has already drifted westward like a cultural tsunami. Woke city councils in Alberta are watching; indeed, our shared Canadian space must guard against ideological renaming..In Calgary, for example, the historic fort that bore the city's name for over a century was renamed The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland in an effort to "expand the narrative of this place to encompass the many diverse histories of the land."A few hours north, the Edmonton Eskimos decided to change their name to the Elks to avoid appearing "racist" towards indigenous peoples in the Arctic. The decision was so hastily implemented that for a number of months the squad played as the "Edmonton Football Team."We must protect our public spaces from ideological capture. We must defend our history — not because it's perfect, but because it's ours. And we must insist that when changes are made, they reflect Canadian values, Canadian voices, and Canadian stories.
