MONTREAL -- The City of Montreal is doing an about-face and announcing that an alley on the science campus of the Université de Montréal will be named after former Parti Québécois minister Camille Laurin.
In a message sent Tuesday morning on Twitter, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante wrote that after learning about the file, she requested the naming of the Camille-Laurin pedestrian way, as proposed by the Outremont Historical Society.
Mayor Plante explained that Dr. Laurin's contribution deserves to be highlighted and that despite the toponymic principle of avoiding double designations, there will be no confusion because the pedestrian way does not have an address.
It was said a few days ago that the proposal was rejected because it did not allow the inclusion of women and representatives of cultural and ethnic minorities. This decision had raised the ire of PQ leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
On Tuesday, Mayor Plante reported that she had spoken the day before with the niece of Laurin and wanted to continue the discussion with the family.
Camille Laurin had the Charter of the French Language adopted in 1977. He lived in Outremont and was director of the department of psychiatry at the Université de Montréal.
He was a minister in the René Lévesque government from 1976 to 1984. He was re-elected as a member of Parliament in 1994 with the Parizeau government and left politics in 1998. He died on March 11, 1999.
A bust of Laurin is located in the Parc de la Francophonie in Quebec City, near the National Assembly. A twin bust is located in the park adjacent to the Camille-Laurin Building, which houses the Office de la langue française in Montreal.
Last February, the MNA for Bourget, Que., Richard Campeau, proposed that the name of his eastern Montreal riding be named after former Minister Laurin, who was the MNA for Bourget.
