Commentaire 9 – commentaires et rétroaction

Margaret van Dijk

The Hon Justice Lynne C. Leitch, Dr Karen Bird, Peter John Lowen and all who have worked with them have clearly made a laudable effort to create diversity, equity and inclusion. I must, however, voice some misgivings about the new name for my federal riding.

First though, I speak not for any specific group, but only for clarity and ease in language use. Now retired, I was teacher of English at a community college for a hundred years. I am also a Pakeha from Aotearoa New Zealand, so I am well aware of white settler guilt, of attitudes to decolonization and of the wishes for more deference to the Majority World from some People of Colour.

I have no trouble with Indigenous place names, coming from a country with names like Turangawaiwai, where one place is in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest place name in the world. However, even in a country where the whakapapa, the tribal genealogy is revered, that 85-letter name is too long for the locals.

I fully agree it is important to recognize the historical context of High Park, and to honour the Iroquois burial mounds. Did you know that the Iroquois were seen as an admirable society by Karl Marx?

I have three suggestions for you before you finalize the chosen name:

• i) Get Real
• ii) Be Practical
• iii) Keep It Simple.

First, the punctuation. The apostrophe is an endangered species. I am not sure whether in Taiaiako’n, it stands for a glottal stop or a letter left out, but I do know that it will be puzzling to many, and probably omitted.

Second, the spelling with the numerous vowels. How often will Torontonians bother to check vowel order? One friend, relieved to be in St.Clair-Mt Pleasant asks if Indigenous children had spelling bees.

Third, simplicity and ease of use.

It is sensitive to care about the Seneca-Mohawk or Cree spelling, if that is what it is, and to acknowledge the historical connectivity, even to something as simple as ‘ a village at the crossing’, but try writing that T-word quickly without checking.

Taiaiako’n-High Park is actually home to many newcomers to Canada. Whether from Tibet, the Philippines, Africa, Pakistan, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, China or the Caribbean, newcomers often are not comfortable with English. How easy do you think they will find writing or saying Taiaiako’n? I suspect it will be called simply High Park by most, and where does that leave Parkdale?

Marginalised, I would say.

We live in a changing world. We face many challenges in our fluctuating environment. Let’s try to make life easier where we can, as well as appreciate and cherish our inheritance.

Sincerely,

Margaret van Dijk