A Block of a Street Named after a Band

Kingston city council is incredible. Last night, in a 7-6 vote, they decided to rename one block of Barrack Street after The Tragically Hip. This is not just any city block but one that is probably one of the oldest street names west of Quebec City. It was named because the street connected the armories on what is now Montreal Street, to the soldiers' barracks near the waterfront. A long time ago.

Several interesting remarks were made by councillors last night.

1. One councillor spoke passionately about what a great tourist attraction it would be to name one block of a street after TTH. It begs the queston: why would ANYONE go to this block to look at the front of the entertainment centre, where TTH did NOT get their start? This would attract tourists? He must think tourists are stupider than bricks.



2. A councillor spoke about the recognition of local citizens in a concrete way, including musicians, writers, etc. The city does not regognize its own now. It's high time it did. Good on you, Councillor Schell.



3. The Mayor made one of the most impassioned speeches in favour of this notion. Interestingly, he has university degree(s?) and cited some numbers to bolster his agreement. Unfortunately, he must have missed the stats class in which the prof discussed the use of numbers. He made two very serious, and persuasive, errors. First, he said that the majority of attendees at a public meeting supported this change. That may be true. The stats prof would ask: how many attended the meeting? how many citizens are there in the municipality and what percentage of them attended the meeting? was it a cross section of citizens? did people attend with their minds already made up (either way) ? Second...he cited the city's on-line poll which asked people's opinion. The obvious errors in thie extremely unscientific tool are, most importantly, that the only ones who vote are those with access to a computer. How many citizens within the city limits have a computer, and how many of those even bothered to vote? [as an aside, I know of one well-known, highly regarded local who does not even own a computer, to say nothing of his online voting] The remarks of voters are not taken into account.