An Ottawa councillor is vowing to lead a process to remove U.S. President Donald Trump’s name from a residential street in Canada’s capital as the Canada-U.S. trade war continues to ramp up. “I’m embarrassed that there is a street in River Ward called Trump Avenue, and I’m embarrassed that, in the nation’s capital, we have Donald Trump honoured in this respect,” Ottawa Coun. Riley Brockington said during Wednesday’s council meeting. “I say honoured because it is an honour to have your name attached to a street sign.” The Central Park neighbourhood has many references that point to New York City, with street names of Madison Park, Manhattan Crescent, Staten Street and Trump Avenue. In 2021, residents of Trump Avenue voted on the possibility of changing the street name. The vote ended in a 21-21 tie, with 20 households abstaining. The City of Ottawa’s policy requires approval of at least 50 per cent plus one to change the name on a street. ‘Past the point of debating’ As council discussed a motion to address U.S. tariffs and relaunch a “Buy Local, Shop Canadian” marketing campaign, Brockington said he will work with residents on Trump Avenue early in the new term of council to rename the street. “We’re past the point of debating whether or not the street name should remain Trump Avenue. It should not,” Brockington said. “In fact, it’s an embarrassment that this name is up there on one of our streets. So, there will be a community-led process, which I will lead, to rename the street. The residents of Trump Avenue will be part of that process and renaming, but it’s time to remove that name from one of our streets in our capital city.” Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says it would be up to residents on Trump Avenue whether the street name is changed in the future. “I don’t want anything named after Donald Trump in Ottawa,” Sutcliffe said. “It’s always tricky renaming a road when residents live on that street and they have addresses. Everybody has to change their driver’s license. Everybody has to write to every contact they have, their insurance company, their bank, and change their address, so it is a bit of a hassle for those residents. If the residents of Trump Avenue want that name changed and don’t want to live on Trump Avenue and want to live on a street with a different name, I fully support that.” Earlier this week, the U.S. president threatened to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America” as the trade dispute between Canada and the U.S. heated up. “The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to doing much business with Ontario any longer,” Trump said on Truth Social. Canada walked away from negotiations on a new trade deal with the United States on Friday. On Tuesday, the federal government announced dollar-for-dollar counter tariffs on hundreds of American goods in response to U.S. tariffs on approximately $28 billion worth of Canadian products. There are 62 homes on Trump Avenue in Ottawa.
