Photo by sjgardiner from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

The love a father has for his child is not something that normally begs any explanation, but when Brian Burke found himself twice thrust into the arena of accidental activism—the second time so tragically—he needed to speak out, at the very least, to draw a line in the sand. Burke made it publicly clear that his gay son not only had his family’s full support, but deserved honour and respect.
By marching in yesterday’s Pride Parade in memory of his son, Burke demanded it.

At the moment a child musters up the bravery to come out, a complicated process begins with the family. Suddenly, the ostracizing effects of homophobia extend to the parent, who is often forced to confront their own feelings of embarrassment and confusion, and who may now be subject to judgmental whispers and cutting diatribes themselves. For a parent, homophobia also carries the insidious suggestion that their parenting has failed—and to the religious, the notion that supporting a gay child is an affront to God.
For Brian Burke, marching under a rainbow flag in front of hundreds of thousands of Torontonians was not a tableau he’d have foreseen years ago, but for some observers, it will define his legacy more importantly than his career in professional sports. His visibility as a PFLAG dad reverberates through families reconciling a child’s coming out, especially those parents struggling under the grip of cultural or religious condemnation. It affirms that love is paramount and that a network of support is available.
It also shows gay people that acceptance from their families may be possible.
During the parade, PFLAG was hailed with applause from the sidelines, but Burke likely wasn’t aware of how significantly the cheering swelled as they passed. This remarkable response from the crowd is laced with a history of familial pain, but more importantly, healing and honour.
Though Burke is used to publicity when it comes to his career, he understandably seems uncomfortable with the activist role he’s assumed since Brendan’s death: this certainly was not an area of expertise, but of course you don’t abandon your son. How could anyone possibly believe otherwise?
But they do, and that’s why he marched. This year, he and Brendan planned to walk side-by-side, proud father and son.
As a PFLAG tale, the Burke family’s shared coming-out process was not particularly unique. As a eulogy, however, Brian Burke continues to distinguish his son’s short but powerful life with a force that Brendan could never have imagined.
And because of their story, some terrified little boy somewhere is going to find the strength to tell his hockey dad a gut-wrenching secret, and that dad is going to tell his son that it’s okay, and that he is loved.

Photo by room929 from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

When Canada Lands Company heard that local web startup Vehicle Gateway was making a seventy-eight-million-dollar bid for the naming rights to the CN Tower, it was apparently news to them.
“The CN Tower’s naming rights are not currently for sale,” the Crown corporation said this morning.
In an interview yesterday with Peter Davies, Vehicle Gateway’s Sales and Marketing manager, Torontoist was told that the government was aware of their impending pitch. “This is a legitimate bid,” Davies said. “It’s definitely real and valid.”

Gordon McIvor, CLC’s vice-president of public and government affairs, says that there had been no contact between the two companies, adding that he first heard of the scheme from the media.
In a carefully worded press release, which conspicuously left open the possibility of selling naming rights in the future, the CLC stated that no bid requests have been made for the CN Tower’s naming rights, nor had tower management or the CLC been approached by Vehicle Gateway.
Peter Davies indicated to us that the alleged bid was timed to coincide with the release of the Ontario budget on Thursday, even though the CLC is a federal corporation. The Canada Lands Company has also announced its annual public meeting for April 14, wherein long-term plans for the CN Tower are traditionally revealed. Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has publicly floated the idea of selling off naming rights to government-owned assets like the CN Tower.
Vehicle Gateway’s bid would see the CN Tower awash in green light at night, representing the company’s official corporate colour.
While it may be hard to imagine a rebranding of our city’s world-famous landmark, it’s hardly a novel idea these days. We’ve resigned ourselves to BMO Field, the Enwave Theatre, the Air Canada Centre, and the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. We’ve watched films at the Scotiabank Theatre, at Toronto Life Square, and in the Visa Screening Room at TIFF. The Pantages is now the Canon, and the National Trade Centre at the Ex has made way for a Direct Energy logo. Yet there seems to be something rather sacred about our pointy projectile (as there is with the Eaton Centre and Chicago’s Wrigley Field), despite having already been named for a corporation.
Being beloved and historic may still not be enough: consider the Willis Tower in Chicago—formerly the world’s tallest building, and known until last summer as the Sears Tower. And if ”VG Tower” sounds like it’s too ripe for jokes about female genitalia, UK football team Newcastle United had to play out their 2009 season at the SportsDirect.com@StJamesPark Stadium (we shit you not).
When the Canadian National Railway sold the tower to the Canada Lands Company in 1995, Torontonians feared a name change and wisdom prevailed: the building was renamed, but to “Canada’s National Tower,” allowing the recognizable CN moniker to remain. Between 1997 and 2003, the tower was operated by Peter Munk’s Trizec Properties, but following a twenty-six-million-dollar reno, Trizec broke the lease and control reverted back to the CLC.
As for Vehicle Gateway, the company insists that the financing exists and that the bid is the real deal. If they can’t get the CN Tower’s name changed, a company spokesperson claims that they’ve got other landmarks in their sights…plus a new glut of free publicity.

Vehicle Gateway’s branding scheme: it’s hideous, but not actually to be painted green.

When SkyDome surrendered its name to Rogers Communications back in 2006, Torontonians were outraged. Now that we’ve had a few years to get used to it, the edges seem to have dulled—winner: Rogers, who now have what probably amounts to the cheapest major ad space in the city. And since they bought the entire bankrupt six-hundred-million-dollar venue for a bargain twenty-five million, Rogers didn’t even have to negotiate the naming rights.
Today, Torontoist has learned that a somewhat unknown Toronto company will be announcing a bid to audaciously rebrand the city’s flagship landmark, the CN Tower. Better sharpen those pitchforks now.
Online used car retailer (!) Vehicle Gateway Corporation will be offering seventy-eight million dollars for branding rights to the tower, which include plans to lock the new LED lighting system into a green-only configuration, renaming the thirty-four-year-old tourist attraction as the “VG Tower.”

Though the structure has changed ownership over the years, any whiff of a name change has been met with strong opposition. Divested by the Canadian National Railway for thirty-five million dollars in 1995, the CN Tower is currently owned by the Canada Lands Company, an arms-length Crown corporation. For years, there have been suggestions that the government might consider selling the naming rights to its real estate assets, with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty using the CN Tower as a specific example in 2008.
“We are fully prepared for the outcry,” said Peter Davies, director of Sales and Marketing at Vehicle Gateway, when reached yesterday. “We do have plans in place for a smooth integration of the name into the minds of Torontonians.”
Davies told Torontoist that the seventy-eight-million-dollar bid would be amortized over a twenty-five-year period, adding that what amounts to about three million dollars per year isn’t that outrageous for a corporate advertising budget. When asked how the private company—which only launched its site on March 3—was financed, Davies offered no comment, stating only that it consisted of a board of automotive experts and venture capitalists. When we expressed scepticism that the naming bid sounded like a publicity stunt for a fledgling startup, Davies was adamant.
“I can understand where you’re coming from, but this is a legitimate bid.”
According to Davies, the federal and provincial governments are already aware of the impending bid, but he would not say if the City of Toronto had any involvement. We asked if other companies were slated to bid to CLC at the same time, and if Vehicle Gateway had been asked by an entity to make a bid by a specific date, but Davies would offer no comment.

It’s run by a Crown corporation, which means that you own it. Photo by Miles Storey/Torontoist.

The mandate of the CLC is to “optimize the financial and community value” by acquiring, developing, and selling high-value commercial land and property. In Toronto, for example, the CLC also operates the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Downsview Park, and a lucrative parking facility beside the Rogers Centre. The CLC has mentioned a plan to “renew the brand focus” of the CN Tower, concentrating on a redevelopment of the base area with Ripley Entertainment, but it has remained mum on naming rights for the tower. Torontoist could not get a comment from Canada Lands Company by press time. [UPDATE, 2 p.m.: Canada Lands Company issued a press release this morning saying that the naming rights for the Tower "are not currently for sale."]
The Vehicle Gateway pitch still sounds suspiciously like a marketing escapade, however. It’s highly unlikely that the CLC would hobble its brand-new multicoloured LED array, and it seems impossible that they would consider renaming such an iconic property after an unknown company, let alone for a quarter-century term. “VG Tower” doesn’t do much for brand recognition…but money does talk.
Certainly, the CN Tower is worth more than that.