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Author: Paul Axelrod, Professor Emeritus, Education and History, York University, Canada

I grew up on Maitland Street in London, Ont., named for Peregrine Maitland, lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada in the 1820s — a resolutely conservative leader who opposed democratic reform.

My grandmother had a house on Simcoe Street, named after the first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, who created the clergy reserves, substantial tracts of land assigned exclusively to the Church of England.

These and other officials owed their allegiance and positions to the British Crown, which did not abolish the slave trade in British North America until 1834.

An argument could be made that all streets, institutions or monuments recognizing such officials should be renamed because whatever else they contributed to the development of Canada, they were proponents of elitism, imperialism, racism, militarism and sexism.