City to rename Alexis Carrel street, park due to alleged Nazi ties

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

The City of Montreal is moving ahead with a plan to strike eugenist Alexis Carrel's name from its map.

Montreal announced in April 2016 it would follow the example of other jurisdictions by erasing any trace of the Nobel Prize-winning doctor because of his alleged Nazi ties.

The city's executive committee passed a motion Wednesday allowing city council to vote later this month on new names for a city street and park.

It intends to rename Alexis-Carrel Avenue after Italian Nobel laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini, known for her work in neurobiology.

A park bearing Carrel's name would be renamed to Don-Bosco Park, named after an Italian saint known for his work with street kids.

Carrel's name has been removed from toponymy in his native France, while the western Quebec town of Gatineau moved in 2015 to remove it from a residential street.