In the grand tradition of renaming things after dead politicians, our very own Dorval Airport will be renamed Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport (via Paul Jané).
Sure, Trudeau was a major figure in Canadian history. But I’m getting really tired of all the endless renamings. If you want to dedicate something, build new stuff and name it after them in the first place. Or, at the very least, rename the Lionel-Groulx metro station before touching a perfectly benignly-named airport!
Girl, take a valium. I’m glad that the “Aereoport de Montreal” has been renamed in honour of Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
The renaming is in a grand tradition. The Toronto airport was renamed for Lester Pearson, the New York airports for Fiorello LaGaurdia and John F. Kennedy, etc.
Perhaps you’re too young to remember, but Trudeau, unlike Chretien or Mulroney, was a prime minister we could be proud of.
Hey I suppose it’s better than the “Mackenzie King international airport” . . .
Segacs, with Damian Penny on vacation, I’m reading you three times as often as I usually do. I must have a thing for Canadian politics. Who knew?
I’m having Damian-withdrawal myself 🙂 But welcome.
This is such a Jean Chrétien thing to do — it’s going to be pretty funny to sit back and watch the fireworks fly. Sample letter from today’s Devoir:
Autoflagellation perpétuelle
Nos partisans de l’autoflagellation perpétuelle jubilent: on vient de «débaptiser» l’aéroport de Dorval pour lui donner le nom d’un faux frère malveillant qui a réduit les pouvoirs de notre Assemblée nationale en s’appuyant sur le sentiment d’insignifiance des Québécois. Pour saluer cette «courageuse» décision, on devrait tous s’agenouiller en silence, sortir nos martinets et se frapper à grands coups en implorant les bonnes grâces de PET qui règne dans les cieux.
Hee hee.
Good ol’ Le Devoir . . . if it didn’t exist, how would else we know the extreme separatist viewpoint?
You know, after reading Nanook’s comment, I’m beginning to think that it was all worthwhile…
Proud of Trudeau? Nah… He did lots of damage, trust me. Energetic, charismatic, tough when he had to be in 1970 when he crushed the FLQ bastards, but his Charter of Rights was destructive to Canada beyond repair.
I’ve got no problem with naming airports after PM’s however; the precedent has been set, and I look forward to Mulroney and Diefenbaker getting an airport one day (since even John Munro, RIP, got one). Darn, forgot they’re not Liberals!
Don’t assume that only former Liberal PMs have a monopoly on airports. After all, Diefenbaker got the one in Saskatoon.