A drive to re-name a Montreal Metro station for famed jazz master Oscar Peterson appears to be gaining momentum.
Something similar happened back in 2008 and failed, so no one is holding their breath, but a petition that went online last Wednesday to re-name the Lionel Groulx Metro station now has over 10,000 signatures.
The station is located on lower Atwater Ave. at the edge of the neighbourhood (now called Little Burgundy) where Peterson and his siblings, including his sister Daisy–one of his earliest teachers–grew up.
Peterson died on Dec. 23, 2007, of kidney failure at the age of 82.
Duke Ellington, who knew a little something about playing the piano, called Peterson the “Maharaja of the keyboard.”
Daisy Peterson Sweeney (left) taught her brother, Oscar Peterson, how to play the piano decades ago. (Library and Archives Canada)
Groulx, for whom the station is currently named, is a controversial figure in Quebec history–he was both an ardent nationalist and a person, many said, who trafficked in anti-Semitism.
Naveed Hussain, who started the petition, says he hopes it will bring Montreal a step closer to recognizing the contributions that Black and Indigenous peoples, as well as others of colour, have made to the city.
“Oscar Peterson is someone that actually cared about this city,” Hussain told the CBC’s Franca G. Mignacca.
In a statement to CBC News, the Société de transport de Montréal said Hussain can submit his petition to the transit authority but that there’s been a moratorium on station name changes for the past 14 years.
With files from CBC News (Franca G. Mignacca)
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