Comment 98 – comments and feedback

Chris Townsend

I am writing to oppose the new name of the Taiaiako'n - High Park riding, the (slightly altered) current Parkdale - High Park riding.

While I support taking steps towards indigenous reconciliation, I believe that this renaming is not appropriate, for the following reasons:

1. The CIty of Toronto (Indigenous) Land Acknowledgement recognizes the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudennosaunee and the Wendat peoples.
2. The key reference to Taiaiako'n appears to be a word press website of the Taiaiako'n Historical Preservation Society (THPS). While the elders of the include a Mohawk (Haudennosaunee) and a Wendat, the THPS does not appear to be well supported by the indigenous community.
3. In a May 17, 2011 Toronto Star article, David Donnelly, lawyer for the Huron-Wendat Nation, calls the notion of an Iroquoian burial site a "hoax." It goes on to report that (then) city spokeswoman, Margaret Dougherty said other First Nations groups — the Huron-Wendat, the Six Nations of Grand River, Kawartha Nishnawbe, and the Mississauga of the New Credit — have written the city to say that David Redwolf, (then) executive director of the Taiaiako'n Historical Preservation Society does not represent their interests or have the authority to speak or act on their behalf.
4. Taiaiako'n appears to refer to an indigenous village that may have existed in the area now know as Baby Point. This is in the farthest west part of the proposed riding. High Park is in the middle. So the eastern area (parkdale) is now entirely excluded in the proposed new riding name.
5. Within the local environmental community (which I consider myself to be a part of), there is concern that this group does not understand scientific information.

Chris Townsend