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Councillor proposes renaming Toronto’s Union Station after Sir John A., Twitter loses it

A Toronto councillor's bid to rename the city's railway hub after Canada's first prime minister is getting a surprising amount of stick on social media.

Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong is proposing to rename Union Station for Sir John A. Macdonald in time for the 150th anniversary of Macdonald's birth next January.

“Union Station is a great monument to Sir John A. because he is known for his National Policy, for building a railway from coast to coast,” Minnan-Wong said Tuesday, according to the Toronto Star.

“What better place in terms of recognition of Sir John A. than Union Station, probably the most important railway station in the country?”

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But not everybody thinks it's a good idea; in fact almost no one, if Twitter is anything to go by.

A lot of tweetists felt the same way; the historical name was just too embedded in the city's cultural memory to change it. Others thought the leaders of Canada's biggest city should have better things to do.

And some just aren't taking it seriously.

Minnan-Wong was not backing down, noting in a series of tweets that North America is dotted with railway hubs dubbed "union."

The name historically was used to denote the station served more than one railway line. Toronto's Union Station hosts Via Rail, Amtrak, Ontario Northland and Metro Toronto's Go Transit railway system, handling more than 200,000 rail passengers a day, not counting people using the adjacent bus and subway terminals.

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Minnan-Wong argued that while Macdonald was not a native Torontonian, he did live in the city, practised law there and became the first president of Toronto-based Manufacturers' Life Insurance Co. (today Manulife), the Star said.

Union Station's history goes back to the late 1850s, with the current building dating from 1927. It's been listed on the Canadian register of historic places since 1975.

City council's executive committee, supported by Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, agreed with Minnan-Wong's proposal and sent it to city staff to study and report back by July, the Globe and Mail reported.

But not everyone in council's on board, so to speak.

“I don’t think you obliterate history to honour history," Coun. Adam Vaughan said. "I think you find ways to take things that aren’t named, things that are new and honour someone who deserves recognition in the city.”

Vaughan suggested naming the new plaza being constructed as part of the station's $1-billion renovation could be named after Macdonald.

“Union Station is Union Station," he said. "It is part of the fabric and the history of this city."