The not-so-Great One? Edmonton resident says it’s time to rename Wayne Gretzky street due to Trump links

“Looking up to him as a kid, getting into hockey and thinking, ‘It’s awesome that Canada had one of the greatest players in the world’… and to do this. It hurts,” Prete tells Yahoo Canada News. “It feels a little bit embarrassing how desperate we are to try and hang on to him like the Canadian hockey legend when he doesn’t want anything to do with Canada.”

The viral post, which garnered over 400 comments, wasn’t the first to make the suggestion. Another posted a similar proposal and amassed more than 600 comments.

It feels a little bit embarrassing how desperate we are to try and hang on to him.

Trump tariff threat has made Canadians prouder

Gretzky’s alignment with Trump is especially hard to process for Prete in light of Trump’s tariffs threat, paused for now, but looming over Canada’s many industries. The move, which would impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods imported into the U.S., pushed many Canadians to shop more locally and make a concerted effort to support local businesses. An early-February poll also showed that patriotism ticked up from coast to coast to coast, even in Quebec. Some Canadian travellers are even cancelling planned vacations to the U.S. as Trump continues to float the idea of annexing Canada to make it the “51st state.”

Edmonton resident: ‘Canada means nothing’ to Wayne Gretzky

After his post on Reddit attracted lots of attention, Prete dug deeper and learned that Gretzky never picked up his companion of the Order of Canada , the country’s highest civilian honour, after it was awarded to him in 2009. That added more salt to his wound.

“I find it a little bit embarrassing that we still have shrines for him,” he says. “Canada means nothing to him.”

Gretzky moved to the U.S. in 1988, when he was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings. He went on to become a dual citizen, marrying an American and raising his five children in the U.S.

Gretzky-Trump relationship goes back years

The hockey star’s ties to Trump date back to at least 2020, where they, along with Gretzky’s professional golfer son-in-law Dustin Johnson, were seen together on a golf course.

In 2021, Johnson and Paulina Gretzky attended the same Halloween party as Trump, where they were photographed together.

Wayne Gretzky and fam at Trump estate, revel in big win. https://t.co/82dywbJl13 — Kevin Paul Dupont (@GlobeKPD) November 8, 2024

In November 2024, the Gretzky family celebrated with Trump at a private event on U.S. election night.

On Prete’s Reddit post, people applauded the idea of renaming Wayne Gretzky Drive, with some suggesting changing it to Terry Fox. But others weren’t keen on the idea, suggesting Gretzky “put Edmonton on the map,” or that public money shouldn’t be “waste[d]” on renaming the street.

Prete says he intends to reach out to Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi’s office and the municipal government. He’s also researching lobby groups to help persuade public officials to “make this type of decision.”

History professor: Reactions from ‘so what’ to ‘he sold us out’

Ronald Stagg is a a history professor emeritus at Metropolitan Toronto University — which itself was renamed from Ryerson University, after Egerton Ryerson, who was considered to be one of the architects of Canada’s residential school system.

He says when it comes to making big changes, these types of causes need to build momentum.

“I’m sure with Gretzky, a lot of people are going to say, so what? And others will say he sold us out,” he says. “You have a core group to take up the issue and other people who are socially conscious jump in.”

Stagg says renaming streets and schools is about taking the fight to the appropriate place.

“If it’s a school, you have to go to a school board, if it’s a government building, you have to put pressure on the government, ” he says. “You might write the local newspaper or start a petition.”

Renaming costs could balloon quickly. Just ask Toronto

In Toronto, the removal of the name Dundas from streets, subway stations and a downtown square, started as a petition signed by 14,000 people, which was then taken to city council. The namesake, Scottish politician Henry Dundas, used his position of power to delay the freedom of slaves from Britain. The total for such a do-over for the street alone could be as much as $13 million, while the square could cost around $600,000.

Signage for Yonge-Dundas Square will be changed early this year to Sankofa Square.