Quebec residents unfazed by streets named after Nazi sympathizers

A street sign for a street named after Alexis Carrel in the community of Riviere des Prairies, in Montreal, Thursday, May 28, 2015.

The discovery that several streets and parks in Quebec were named after historical figures who had links to the Nazis has sparked a campaign to get the streets renamed. But some residents say it just isn’t worth the hassle.

The street name firestorm began in Gatineau, Quebec, just over the river from Ottawa. Several streets there were named after Nobel Prize winners, but it's now come to light that two of the men – Alexis Carrel and Philipp Lenard -- were also Nazi sympathizers.

Carrel was a French surgeon who won the Nobel for medicine in 1912 for his work on surgical techniques. In his later years, he was accused of championing Adolf Hitler's use of eugenics and of collaborating with the Nazis, but died before a trial could be held.

Lenard was a German winner of the Nobel prize for physics. He was also an early and passionate supporter of the Nazis and an advisor to Hitler.

A street was also named after Carrel in 1972 in the Montreal community of RDP, Riviere des Prairies. A park was named after him in 1988 too. You'll also find a park and streets named after Carrel in Boisbriand and Chateauguay.

Eta Yudin of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs says now that this information has come to light, the street and park names have to change.

"It wouldn't make sense to have a municipality continue to maintain a street with that name," she told CTV Montreal.

"I think it's incumbent upon those municipalities to take a look at the street within their territory and to do what's necessary to change the name."

The Centre has sent a letter to the mayor of Gatineau and plans to write to leaders in the other communities as well.

But in RDP, many residents such as Angela lacalamita say they have a strong attachment to their street name and don't want it changed.

"I've been living here for 14 years and I think it's a nice name. I like seeing Carrel every time I go through," she told CTV Montreal.

"I don't think they should change the street name... It doesn't matter. We all have histories."

In Gatineau, someone has posted signs with images of Nazi victims and the words "Never Again" in French, to remind residents of the Nazi links to their street's namesake.

Ronald Martineau says he removed one notice from a stop sign in his front yard, because the history of the man his street was named after doesn't bother him. His neighbour, Jacques Hebert, has the same opinion.

"It's the past. It's history," Hebert said.

Fellow resident Sylvie Charron says the hassle of renaming the street just wouldn't be worth it.

"Everything (would have) to be changed, change papers, you have to go to the post office to change everything," she said.

Neighbour Michele Casselman agreed.

"I don't really know how much it matters to people," he said. "I mean, do people really pay attention to what the street means?"

With reports from CTV Ottawa's Leah larocque and CTV Montreal's Maya Johnson