Rationale for renaming
The idea is to end the current confusion caused by there being 2 streets, both called Pears Avenue, both of which dead end at Ramsden Park. One exits west onto Avenue Road. The other exits east onto Yonge Street. They no longer connect to each other. We propose to give the easterly section a different but historically relevant name.
Significance and relevance of new name
The proposed change to “Basil Johnston Terrace” would acknowledge and honour the First Nation presence and positive contribution within our community and our city. Basil Johnston Terrace would commemorate the significant contribution of a brilliant Ojibway author and educator, recognized in his 2015 Globe & Mail Obituary as the “foremost scholar of Anishinaabe life. Andin the Canadian Encyclopedia as “one of the foremost indigenous authors in Canada.”
A residential school survivor (who managed as an adult to live successfully in 2 cultures – in Toronto and Cape Croker), Johnston wrote widely about Anishinaabe traditions, language and modern life. In the 1970s there were very few books by indigenous writers. His 25+ books (the earliest published in 1976) are credited with paving the way for the current flowering of First Nations literature. Many contemporary indigenous writers and artists, like Drew Hayden Taylor (Basil created “a veritable library of the Anishinaabe universe”) and Donald Chretien, credit him as a key inspiration. Tomson Highway said of Johnston, “We wouldn’t have been able to do what we are doing today, this current generation of writers, including myself, without people like him coming before us.”
But Johnston also has a particular link to this neighbourhood. Hired as a history teacher at Earl Haig Secondary school in the 1960s, he caught the attention of the Head of Ethnology at the Royal Ontario Museum, and spent the next 25 years as a full-time lecturer and storyteller at the ROM. This is where he did his ground-breaking work collecting and recording Anishinaabe stories and folk tales and writing about Ojibway history and language. All this just blocks away from the street that we propose to name after him.
“He was a great speaker and gave talks around the city” one colleague recalled. He also created the Museumobile, which toured the province with educational materials about native heritage and languages. Convinced language was the key to culture, he developed tapes, CDs and other aids to teach Anishinaabe. His Ojibway Language Lexicon is still used.
Other contributions to Toronto: His daughter Elizabeth (Tibby) Johnston recalls in his early years here. He was instrumental in starting up Toronto’s Indian Club. He was also an active athlete. Having played Varsity hockey at college, he continued to play into his 50s with the Toronto Islanders, a Native hockey team.
Basil Johnston died in 2015, at age 86. His daughter Tibby was delighted that her father might be remembered in this way. “He lived with one foot in each world. Dad would be so pleased to have it happen.” The Cultural Director at The Native Centre of Toronto also gives this re-naming choice their full and strong support.
