City committee rejects motion to rename Paul Haggis Park
Coun. Mo Salih's motion to rename a south London park failed to gain support at a committee meeting.
City councillors failed to move on a motion to remove Paul Haggis' namesake from a south London park Tuesday.
Members of the Community and Protective Services Committee did not vote on Ward 3 Coun. Mo Salih's motion to re-name Paul Haggis Park, located near Southdale and White Oak Roads.
The motion failed to receive a seconder, which resulted in a motion to only receive the request.
"I respect the decision of this committee," said Salih.
"Of course, I'm going to be disappointed that I didn't have a seconder, but I knew that this was going to be a difficult conversation … I'm not here to accuse him, it's not about his resume, his merits. It was about a public space and making sure that people today can have access."
Paul Haggis is a former Londoner who became a successful writer and director in Hollywood, with titles Million Dollar Baby and Crash to his credit.
Four women have accused the London native of sexual assault and harassment. They said the incidents happened between 1996 and 2015. The allegations against Haggis have yet to be proven in court.
While Salih's motion did not gain support, councillors agreed that something should be done if Haggis is found guilty of the allegation against him.
"It is a very serious matter for both parties and I think we owe them both the opportunity to deal with their matter in court, it will be dealt with in court, and then we can make a decision," said Coun. Phil Squire.
Squire also raised the question of whether the city should be naming parks after people who are alive.
"I know these are difficult conversations and I want to make sure that when a young woman or a young girl goes to a park, that they feel safe and that they feel that their city supports them," said Salih.
"I feel it was also import to send a message to young boys that when someone is being accused of something serious, that we don't celebrate that person at that time ... I found it very difficult to celebrate the park name at this time."
Salih's motion was supported by local woman's group Anova, who want city councillors to re-commit to the safe cities initiative by supporting the motion.
"Changing a park's name is a symbolic gesture. It doesn't actually do a lot but if it … pushes forward the safe city initiative then that's useful," said AnnaLise Trudell, manager of education at Anova.
"As a community, we should [think about] who we want to admire and what kind of public dialogue we want to have around issues. This is an opportunity to think about how sexual violence happens in London and how it impacts Londoners."
Salih had requested the "Paul Haggis Park" sign be replaced by a sign with the address of the location, "2875 Bateman Trail", until a suitable name is adopted.
The process for changing the name of a city park must be submitted to the city clerk, then the request would undergo a process of checks before any action is taken.
Although park name changes are not common, Carfrae Park West was changed to Charles Hunt Park last May in honour of the 19th century business man.