How to honor Guy Lafleur in toponymy? | You have seen?


In the hours following the death of blonde demonthe Government of Quebec quickly raised the idea of ​​naming Highway 50 after Guy Lafleur, which links Mirabel to Gatineau and passes through Thurso, the town where the legendary hockey player grew up.

The Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, has already indicated that the City of Montreal was already thinking about renaming a public space, a street or a park in tribute to Guy Lafleur. The mayor of Quebec also expressed his intention to commemorate the life of the former Nordiques and Remparts player.

Renaming the Avenue du Colisée is one of the hypotheses raised. Guy Lafleur already has a statue in his likeness near the Videotron Center.

Before deciding, the municipal authorities will have to wait at least one year after the death. It is a bare minimum, recalls Jonathan Cha, urbanologist specializing in public space and heritage. He was particularly interested in the place played by hockey in cities, including Montreal.

You have to be sure not to take premeditated action, he explains. The City of Montreal will soon adopt a recognition intervention framework and it is specified in the document that it is necessary to have a hindsight ideally of five years after the death of someone to position itself and make such a decision.

The law, for now, requires one year. This is the deadline that the City of Montreal had respected before renaming a section of Faillon Street in honor of former baseball player Gary Carter near Jarry Park.

For Jonathan Cha, there is no doubt that Guy Lafleur deserves public commemoration, but the options are not limited to places or streets.

He’s a larger-than-life figure who’s influenced generations, so it’s certainly only fitting that he receive a gesture of commemoration. Now which one is more suitable? We want to avoid that a person who has a monument also has a street name, because there are so many people who have not been commemorated in history. Lafleur already has a statue near the Bell Centre.

In his hometown of Thurso, Guy Lafleur not only already has a statue in his likeness, but the arena and a street also bear his name.

Renaming a street or a square is easier or classic, but it is not the only option. And it’s not necessarily the one that should be preferred. There is also material commemoration or ceremonies in which the population can participate.underlines the urbanologist.

If Montreal, for example, were to rename a street or a public space, Jonathan Cha recommends that the location chosen be anchored in the prowess of Guy Lafleur.

Since Lafleur did not live in Montreal, he believes that the tribute should be linked to the site of the Bell Center or the old Forum, the place where Lafleur made the rain and the good weather.

Maurice Richard, who lived in the Ahuntsic district, saw the park in front of his home being renamed in his honor after his death. The provincial riding of Crémazie, where Ahuntsic is located, was also renamed Maurice-Richard in 2017.

Jean Béliveau, who also had the right to a national funeral like Richard and Lafleur, has not yet had the right to a toponymic commemoration from the City of Montreal.

The three men pose side by side.

Jean Béliveau, Guy Lafleur and Maurice Richard at the Montreal Forum in April 1979

Photo: The Canadian Press / Doug Ball

There is indeed, in Longueuil, where he lived, the Coliseum and rue Jean-Béliveau. And again, the renaming of rue Victoria to rue Jean-Béliveau aroused the dissatisfaction of several residents.

Resistance was also heard when the Conservative government wanted to name the new Champlain Bridge in honor of Maurice Richard.

Guy Lafleur’s contribution is unanimous and there is some pressure on the political class and the media contribute to it, but there is a danger of commemorating too quickly, explains Jonathan Cha. We saw it with the Champlain Bridge. It’s not that Maurice Richard wasn’t a legend or not adored, but on the St. Lawrence River, an explorer like Samuel de Champlain remained more relevant. It takes a step back and lucidity, despite the emotion of the moment.

Options in Montreal

Michel Vigneault is a sports historian and lecturer at UQAM. He favors three options for streets or places that could be renamed in honor of Guy Lafleur near the old Forum.

He thinks of Atwater Street, Lambert-Closse Street or Cabot Park, named in honor of explorer Jean Cabot. His choice would be to rename the northern part of Avenue Atwater in honor of Guy Lafleur.

I would keep Atwater Market and Atwater Street south of Notre-Dame Street because it leads to the aqueduct and Edwin Atwater was an important businessman and helped build the aqueduct in Montreal,” says Michel Vigneault. Then I would name it for Guy Lafleur north to Côte-des-Neiges.

The Forum, theater of the spectacular rises of Flowerwas located on Sainte-Catherine Street between Atwater and Lambert-Closse.

A building on which we can read Forum

Guy Lafleur set the Montreal Forum on fire with his exploits.

Photo: Twitter

Raphaël-Lambert Closse was one of the first inhabitants of Montreal under Chomedey de Maisonneuve who arrived in 1647, five years after the founding of the city, recalls the historian. Are these street names easier to interchange? It is possible, but we would have to see what the population thinks of it as well.

The idea of ​​transforming only a section of an existing street is an interesting avenue to consider according to urbanologist Jonathan Cha.

In Paris, for example, the main boulevards regularly change names because there is toponymic overload, he explains. We have a lot less of that in Quebec and that would be an option. One thing is certain, you must offer an artery that has a certain presence, or a link that is well anchored and that resonates in the territory.

Renaming the Lucien-L’Allier metro station, which serves the Bell Centre, would also be an option, even if Michel Vigneault wants the street to keep its name.

Lucien L’Allier was the former advisor to Mayor Jean Drapeau and he is an important figure for the city of Montrealunderlines the historian.

He brushes aside the idea he read on Twitter of renaming Stanley Street in the name of the blonde demon.

Stanley Street was named in honor of the father of Lord Stanley who gave his name to the Stanley Cup, says the historian. Stanley was himself the British prime minister. It would be very difficult to change the name of the street, given the importance of the character.

Michel Vigneault is also very open to the idea that Highway 50 adopts the name of Guy Lafleur.

It would probably be easier, because it does not yet have a name and it connects Mirabel to Gatineau, explains the lecturer. The 40 already bears the name of Félix-Leclerc, the 20, that of Jean-Lesage. Why not the 50 for Guy Lafleur?

That said, Guy-Lafleur streets could grow in large numbers in new developments over the next few years.

The city of Vaudreuil-Dorion, for example, already has an area where all the streets are named after hockey players. Elmer Lach, Toe Blake, Émile Bouchard, Silvio Mantha, Aurèle Joliat, Howie Morenz, Jacques Plante, Maurice Richard, Claude Provost and Lorne Worsley are all honored there.

It’s an interesting gesture, but it’s not the strategies and the principles that are put forward the most in toponymy, judge Jonathan Cha. But towns or municipalities cannot be prevented from giving street names to people, even if they have not had an active influence in the region or the local community.



Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca

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