Ministry to investigate Caledonia business with racial slur in name — despite approving it in 2014

The Ministry of Government and Consumer Services is launching an investigation into a Caledonia business that has been at the centre of a social media firestorm this week amid criticisms over its racially charged name.

The Princess and the Yard Ape, a plant and garden shop in Haldimand County, passed the province's business application process when it applied for a licence in 2014.

The online application for Ontario businesses checks for known obscene words and overtly derogatory terms.

But a spokesperson for the ministry said that, at the time, the Princess and Yard Ape name was accepted because it did not contain any previously identified obscene words" during the review process.

The owner of the store, Kellie MacMillan, has committed to register for a new name for the second time in as many days amid a flurry of public criticism.

In a telephone interview early Friday morning, MacMillan - who less than 24 hours earlier published a statement defending the name of her store because there was no ill-intent" meant by it - said she was left with no other choice.

Well, I have to, do I not? Because I'm being called upon to do that," MacMillan told The Spectator when asked to explain her change of heart. Honestly, what I want doesn't matter right now, does it?"

MacMillan said in a now-deleted video posted to the shop's Facebook page Wednesday that in no way is the name meant to be a racial slur."

I'm not here to make excuses or apologies, just state some facts ... At the time, we looked up the definition and we were aware that there was a racial, derogatory term of the same definition," MacMillan said, referring to she and her husband.

However, since my husband is a blue-collar worker - he works his a** off - we really weren't too concerned, because he is the antithesis of the slur."

The term yard ape" is defined online as slang for an unruly child or as a derogatory term intended to describe Black people.

In 2005, a school administrator in South Carolina was forced to resign after twice referring to children of hurricane Katrina evacuees as yard apes."

MacMillan committed later in the video to rebranding her business and said that she's stood against racism well before it was popular or on people's minds."

Late Thursday afternoon, in a statement posted to the store's website, MacMillan said her husband, David, chose the name in 2014 because he is a landscaper and that is what they call themselves."

It is an insider term (and) has no resemblance of any fashion to the term you are pulling up on Google," MacMillan said, adding her family's name is not listed as the authors of this term" and suggesting people contact the company that published this information in a dictionary format" if they had concerns.

My husband chose the name and is still happy to carry that name. It is his profession and his brand identity. So from this day ... the term Yard Ape on this site and any forms of business clearly equals the name David S. MacMillan."

The statement included an apology for any offense or upset we have caused, but know that wasn't our intentions."

It's unclear whether or not the term is used by landscapers.

MacMillan's flip-flop over whether to change the store's name - and her defence of it not being intendedly offensive - points to a larger issue of systemic racism in Canada, said Kojo Damptey, who heads up the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion.

Any time racism or discrimination is put at the feet of white people, there's deflection, negation, and 100 per cent refusal that it doesn't exist," Damptey said. But that denial, in effect, is an act of racism. Those two things need to be linked."

The incident also points to a lack of oversight at the provincial and municipal level, he said.

A spokesperson for Haldimand County said the municipality doesn't issue licenses to retail operations, but takes discrimination in any form very seriously."

Ultimately, the onus falls on the ministry, who - besides checking for obscene words and overtly derogatory terms" - performs a review of all business names to ensure compliance with legislation, regulation and policy."

Questions posed to the ministry regarding why no red flags were raised concerning the term yard ape," and how it would comply with provincial legislation and policy, went unanswered.

MacMillan said her store will now be called Princess and Her Plants. She said it will take some time before the business is approved of a new domain name, but didn't specify how long.

Meanwhile, the ministry said it is currently unaware of a new registration request from MacMillan and administrative compliance" may be taken.

Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com