On Checkup this week, we asked whether Canada should change the names of streets and monuments that honour contentious figures. While many in the discussion thought that it was time to do so, Tom Haney from Wolfe Island, Ont., disagreed. He noted that while they may have "warts," the colonials from the past made significant contributions to this country.

Duncan McCue: What do you think of the conversation so far?

Tom Haney: My big problem is that I'm always afraid we're going to throw the baby out with the bath water on these sorts of things. I hear some of your callers talking about our wretched colonial past. I have to think that things like our wretched colonial past include such things as parliamentary democracy, the rule of law, all those things that we take for granted. We are very quick to say 'let's get rid of all the vestiges of that era,' without understanding the good that came with them.

Our country is a human institution, it's not perfect and it's got flaws. The people who are honoured today through street names and statues, we're judging a lot of them by the standards of 2017. In their day, they made their contribution as they saw fit. The mosaic which they put together has resulted in this wonderful country that we call Canada. I'm all for this when it comes to new buildings and new streets, giving them names that are more in keeping with our present day philosophies, but be very careful about throwing away our history. That's a uniquely Canadian trait that we have – trying to be anti-hero.

DM: What would you say to those who argue that Canada has matured and our values have changed and therefore, we should change some of the names that are memorializing the colonial era?

TH: We're mature enough to realize that the people who helped make this country what it is today shouldn't be forgotten. They shouldn't be judged by the standards of today. If someone was great in that era, they were great in their ability to help make Canada what it is today. Warts and all, we owe them the respect that they deserve for their contributions to our society.

DM: And how should we do that while balancing modern sensibilities?

TH: As I said, new buildings and streets, or those with amorphous names, we should absolutely rename those with some of our modern heroes. But I'd be very loath to start throwing out the heroes of our past that helped shape our country. We need to be mature enough to realize that the values they held are different than ours, but they made contributions to making Canada what it is today.