Some Toronto residents push back against parkette being renamed after anti-gun violence advocate

Some residents of a tiny enclave bordering Toronto's newly redeveloped Regent Park neighbourhood are calling on the city to revisit a council decision to rename a parkette after a well-known local anti-gun violence advocate.

Last week, councillors led by Chris Moise (Toronto Centre) voted to rename the tiny Sumach-Shuter Parkette after Louis March, who died last July.

In a motion, Moise wrote that the park should be named after March because "Regent Park was one of the neighbourhoods where Louis did some of his most impactful work, and [it] would recognize his deep commitment to ending gun violence and supporting the most vulnerable communities in Toronto."

The parkette sits in a corner of tiny Trefann Court, adjacent to the newly revitalized Regent Park. Locals there agree March made a huge impact on young people in the area and across Toronto. Their argument, they emphasize, is with the process, not March's legacy.

"It was a surprise," said Bill Eadie, a 42-year Trefann Court resident. "What I think people are offended by is that there was no consultation."

CBC Toronto reviewed 28 emails city staff received prior to the vote, from people who wanted to express their views about the name change. Twenty-two were in favour; six were against it.

"Louis was not the type of man who needed accolades or praise, he truly loved Toronto and was committed to making it a city we could all feel safe in and be proud to call home," wrote one woman. "Naming a City of Toronto park after Louis March would ensure that his life's work was not in vain. It would guarantee that his name will live on for future generations."

The tiny parkette runs east from Sumach Avenue on the south side of Shuter Street. It has just been upgraded, and is scheduled to re-open next month.

Neighbours told CBC Toronto the parkette is a vital meeting spot for residents, and they should have been asked for their  input on its future."It's really our only greenspace," 20-year resident Lynn Lawson said. "I didn't really get to know people until I started going to the park. Now I know everyone."

Carol Silverstone, who's lived in the neighbourhood for 64 years, found it upsetting that the parkette was being renamed.

"Nobody knew this was happening," she said.

Eadie and other residents who spoke with CBC Toronto say they're proud of their tiny community, an area of a few square blocks that begins on the south side of Shuter Street, east of Parliament, directly across from the new Regent Park.

In the 1960s, city staff wanted to take over Trefann Court and build public housing on the land, including it as part of Regent Park public housing development. But residents organized against the move and won.

It was around this time, city records show, that Trefann Court was recognized as a "redevelopment area", unique from Regent Park.