On Aug. 23, 
the city will hold its very first official “Sankofa Day“. But inviting the whole city to a party won’t persuade anyone this Dec 2023 renaming was a good idea. Councillor Chris Moise (who most recently renamed Sumach-Shuter Parkette) made headlines in Dec 2023 for the renaming of another city asset in his ward: Yonge-Dundas Square (YDS), now Sankofa Square: no public consultation, interference by city politicians in committee deliberations, no advance notice of the renaming motion at City Council, the chosen name has no connection to Toronto, the chair of YDS resigned in protest, and it’s unclear whether Toronto’s Property Naming Policy was followed.
Summary of YDS renaming (see here for details): City Council setup a committee (CAC) in July 2021, to seek community input on potential new names for Dundas. After meeting 18 times, CAC had a short list of 4 possible names. Sankofa was the only name on the short list with no connection to Toronto or its history. One CAC member said public consultation process never took place. CAC’s meeting planned for Dec 5 was delayed one week while Chris Moise and Mayor Chow intervened and met with the CAC co-chairs and city staff. Chow attended the CAC meeting on Dec 12, 2023, told them to pick a single name and to not bother with public consultation. Two days later Councillor Moise made a urgent motion at City Council to declare Sankofa as the new name for Yonge-Dundas Square (YDS).