A few days ago I posted about the possibility of renaming the Lionel-Groulx Metro station Oscar-Peterson ( I was surprised to learn was that, in French, places named after people get hyphens after that person’s death). Lionel-Groulx is one of the best designed stations in the system, and one of my personal favourites. In comparison to other transfer stations like Snowdon or Jean-Talon, its simple design is a pleasure to visit and use.

One of the issues with this station, which has not often been mentioned in the campaign to rename the station after Peterson, is that the man the station is named after is an anti-semite. Not a closeted one, whose writings could be interpreted one way or another, but an out and out self-avowed critic of Jewish culture and peoples.

Peterson is surely deserving of some recognition from the city, and I think this is a great way to do that while distancing Montréal from an anti-Semitic figure.