Ottawa City Council has voted to begin the process of renaming Trump Avenue, a residential street named 25 years ago, with “Taco Avenue” and “Obama Avenue” among the front-running replacement suggestions.
As tensions between the US and Canada continue to escalate, Ottawa’s city council has taken the first formal step toward renaming a suburban street called Trump Avenue.
In a unanimous vote this week, the council moved to start the process of renaming Trump Avenue, located in the capital’s Central Park neighborhood. The street has carried the name for about 25 years, part of a New York City-themed subdivision built around 2000 that also includes streets like Staten Way, Madison Park, and Gotham Private.
Why the renaming is happening now
The renaming push comes amid a trade dispute between the two countries, including reciprocal 50% tariffs and, more recently, Trump’s executive order attempting to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”
Councillor Riley Brockington didn’t hold back during the meeting, saying he was embarrassed that a street in the nation’s capital still honored Trump in any way.
“We’re past the point of debating whether or not the street name should remain Trump Avenue,” he said. “It should not.”
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe backed the sentiment, stating plainly that he doesn’t want anything in Ottawa named after Trump.
The public naturally has opinions
The public wasted no time submitting replacement name ideas. Councillor Tim Tierney confirmed that suggestions have included Ontario Avenue, Canada Avenue, Beaver Avenue, Canada Goose Avenue, Gulf of Mexico Avenue, Pelosi Avenue, and Rosie O’Donnell Avenue.
The name generating the most buzz, though, is “Taco Avenue,” a reference to the online acronym “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
Not exactly a fast process
Despite the viral momentum, the renaming won’t happen overnight. Municipal policy requires more than half of the street’s 62 households to vote in favor of a name change before a public consultation process can even begin.
This actually isn’t the council’s first attempt to rename Trump Avenue. Back in 2021, a similar push ended in a 21-21 deadlock, with 20 households abstaining, largely because residents didn’t want the hassle of updating IDs and official paperwork.
The formal community vote is expected to happen sometime after this autumn’s municipal elections.
Tierney, while clearly amused by some of the submissions, was quick to note that the joke shouldn’t overshadow the bigger picture.
“The semantics of names, we can save that for another day,” he said. “Right now, I think our focus has to remain on trade and tariffs… let’s get back to the table.”
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