Council votes in favour of renaming the controversial street name following advocacy by Randy Guzar, the Daisy Group, and community allies.
PUSLINCH, ON, Sept. 28, 2022 /CNW/ – Following decades of advocacy by community leaders, councillors in the Township of Puslinch have voted to rename Swastika Trail – ending a divisive chapter in the municipality’s history.
Randy Guzar and Audrey Hoskins, long-time Puslinch residents, filed an application to rename the street following the Township’s implementation of a Municipal Street Naming Policy which prohibited the use of “discriminatory or derogatory names.” Township staff agreed that the street name did not comply with municipal regulations.
“For more than 20 years, my neighbours and I have asked our elected officials to rename Swastika Trail, yet the concerns of myself, and others, had previously been ignored,” said Guzar. “We are grateful to this Council for listening to the concerns of myself and my neighbours, including a Holocaust survivor, and look forward to moving forward as a community.”
The Daisy Group proudly assisted Guzar with his advocacy pro bono, working to gather public and government support from across the country. Over the past three years, the campaign has received the support of numerous parliamentarians including Michael Coteau, Bryan May, Pam Damoff, and Senator Linda Frum, as well as leading organizations such as the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies.
“We are grateful to Randy for his leadership in the community and proud to have had the opportunity to work with him on this incredibly important initiative,” said Warren Kinsella, President of the Daisy Group. “We refuse to be indifferent towards hatred and applaud Council’s efforts to create an inclusive community.”
Daisy Group is a Toronto-based firm that provides public relations, media relations, and government relations. For 16 years, its pro bono work has consisted of campaigns to oppose racism and hatred.
SOURCE Daisy Consulting Group
