A coalition of community activists says the list of names announced last week for the city's Confederation Line trains contains some glaring omissions, and should be reconsidered.

In an open letter to Mayor Jim Watson, the group claims the 40 winning names, which were suggested by local children, aren't sufficiently representative, and don't reflect either Ottawa's history or its changing face.

"Of the 40 names, 15 of them honour specific people (only 5 are women). Merely three of them could claim Ottawa as their home, and none of them are Franco-Ontarian, people of colour, LGBTQ2+ people, Aboriginal."

In fact, while the winning train names include such whimsical offerings as Northern Lights, Snowbird and Maple Taffy, the list also includes Famous Five member Emily Murphy and Métis leader Louis Riel.

Cross section of signatures

Included among the letter's 22 signatories are community advocate Ketcia Peters, lawyer David Bertschi, Canadian Labour Congress vice-president Larry Rousseau and author and activist Monia Mazigh.

They argue the city missed a prime opportunity to celebrate its own.

The City of Ottawa has missed an opportunity to highlight the greatest residents of its territory, past and present. - Open letter

"The City of Ottawa has missed an opportunity to highlight the greatest residents of its territory, past and present," the signatories wrote.

"Ottawa boasts its own national figures in the fields of the arts, sports, science, technology, and the military."

Signatory Jeremy Dias, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexuality, said the city must have had plenty of diverse names to chose from among the 2,000 submitted for the contest.

"I carefully disagree that there were no diverse names. I would love to see the full list of 2,000 names," Dias told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.

"What are the stories we are telling our kids in schools and communities?"

City stands by names

The city defended its choices.

"The names chosen were part of a contest and generated by local children and youth, therefore city staff did not have an influence on the submitted names," said Jocelyne Bégin, special adviser to transit GM John Manconi.

Four individuals were responsible for paring down the list to 40 names: Coun. Stephen Blais, Coun. Keith Egli, OC Transpo director of customer systems Pat Scrimgeour, and Livia Belcea, the mayor's press secretary.

Bégin said there's no plan to change the list, but noted there will be other naming opportunities as the service expands.

"With the contest now closed, efforts are now focused on getting the city ready for LRT service in November."