On Monday, Montreal city council will hold a final vote on a proposal to change the name of a park that honours WWI veterans and name it after Jacques Parizeau.

Outremont's Historical Society lobbied for the change, and this week convinced Montreal's Executive Committee to approve it.

A motion to rename the park was passed unanimously by Outremont borough council on Oct. 5.

"I think it's only natural and normal to honour someone who held such a high position as (premier) of Quebec," said OHS President Jean Savard.

Parizeau was the MNA for L'Assomption, but had several ties to Outremont.

He lived on a street near Vimy Park for several years, and at one end of the park is a plaque honouring Parizeau’s first wife, the writer Alice Poznanska.

Parizeau's state funeral last year took place in the Saint Germain d'Outremont church.

News of the renaming of the park on the 100th anniversary of the battle that many say helped Canada form a national identity has sparked outrage.

Bob Rae says the move is "an insult pure and simple."

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre refused to discuss the issue on Thursday morning.

Historians said there are ways to remember notable figures from the recent past without erasing a tribute to Canada's history and its ties to France.

Vimy Foundation Executive Director Jeremy Diamond told CTV Montreal the city should find another location to name after Parizeau, preferably one that does not have any historical significance.

"It was a real sense of Canadian pride, not only for Canadians, but it was all across newspapers in the United States and across the world," he said of the battle.

McGill University history professor Desmond Morton also objected to the idea, saying it was politically motivated.

"This is a plot to get more fuss out of the Anglos of Quebec, as they see one of their heritage moments disappearing," he said.

Savard denied charges of playing politics, saying the street the park is on will still be named de Vimy.

"Vimy Park, Vimy Street, what else, will there be a fountain in the name of de Vimy?" he said. "Once is enough."