Henry Dundas Should Be Celebrated, Not Cancelled

Commentary It’s finally happened. Toronto’s Yonge and Dundas Square has been renamed, with signage to be completed by the end of the year. Henceforward it will be known as Sankofa Square. We’ll come to what that means shortly, but the first question to ask is why this happened in the first place. The name Dundas was believed to be too offensive to keep. Hardly anyone has heard of Henry Dundas, after whom the square was named, and this in itself is a shame, but it’s the main reason for the success of the smear campaign against him. As far as his critics are concerned, Dundas was opposed to the abolition of slavery and oversaw policies that prolonged and encouraged it. None of this is actually true, but the move to rename the square went ahead anyway....