What's in a name... but a place?

Park Ave. merchants plot their next plan of attack

Group will focus on lobbying commission

ANNE SUTHERLAND

Montréal Gazette, 2 Dec 2006

The merchants association behind the campaign to save the name of Park Ave. are entering the next phase of their battle: boning up on the bylaws that govern the body that oversees place names in Quebec, the Commission de toponymie.

"It's difficult to pick a fight when you don't know the rules or who you're up against," Chris Karidogiannis, executive secretary of the Park Ave. Merchants Association, said yesterday.

"The reality now is we have to take this up with the toponymy commission and see how they interpret the rules before meeting with them," he said.

Karidogiannis said his group will be concentrating on the public body's mandate, which says changes to place names cannot be completed where there is controversy or divisiveness.

The commission's next meeting is set for Jan. 16.

On Tuesday, Montreal city councillors voted 40-22 in favour of renaming Park Ave. and Bleury St. to Robert Bourassa Ave., after the late Quebec premier.

"We learned democracy and politics are two different things," Karidogiannis said of the vote.

Proponents of Park Ave. then changed gears after seven weeks of organizing rallies and collecting more than 40,000 signatures on petitions.

The merchants association is promising a legal challenge to the name change, based on Montreal's Charter of Rights and Responsibilities, which they say guarantees public consultation of residents before such changes can be made.

"If the toponymy commission is truly independent, they have no choice but to listen to us," Karidogiannis said.

"To those who think the battle is over, the vote on Tuesday was not a fait accompli.

"The fight is not over. It's just warming up."

asutherland@thegazette.canwest.com