In 2012, the Ottawa River Parkway was renamed to honour Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, MP for Ottawa West-Nepean announced the change on August 15, 2012. The renaming followed a grassroots campaign led by author and historian Bob Plamondon and Ottawa media personality Mark Sutcliffe. It was part of a process engaged in by the then government of Stephen Harper of renaming sites in the National Capital Region after prominent former members of the Conservative and Progressive Conservative parties of Canada. On Jan. 11, the former Wellington Street Bank of Montreal had been also renamed the Sir John A. Macdonald Building in January 2012. The name change was not without some controversy.