Advertisement
Another landmark distanced from key figure from Church’s western Canadian past
Bishop Vital Justin Grandin (1829-1902).
Photo courtesy the Archdiocese of Edmonton
March 21, 2025
Share this article:
A neighbourhood named after a key architect of the Roman Catholic Church in western Canada will be no more by Sept. 1, 2025, at the latest.
The St. Albert, Alta., City Council favoured changing the name from Grandin neighbourhood by a 5-2 vote. Support for the residential area being renamed The Gardens passed 6-1.
This neighbourhood is the latest landmark formerly named after Bishop Vital Grandin (1829-1902), the first Roman Catholic Bishop of St. Albert, to be retitled since the unproven claim of mass graves near the former Kamloops Residential School was publicized on May 27, 2021. Grandin was among the architects of the residential school system.
It's the latest in moves to wipe Grandin's name from Canada's past. Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools unanimously voted to rename Vital Grandin School as Holy Family Catholic School.
Edmonton Catholic School Division voted to rename Grandin School and clear a mural of the bishop to pave the way for Holy Child Catholic Elementary School. Edmonton City Council also changed Grandin LRT Station to Government Centre.
Bishop Grandin High School in Calgary was swapped for Our Lady of the Rockies High School.
Grandin Boulevard and Grandin Street in Winnipeg gave way to Abinojii Mikanah and Taapweewin Way, respectively.
Residents spoke in favour and against the motion to rename.
Lynn Duigou, an 82-year-old resident of St. Albert, recognized Grandin’s legacy with residential schools, but advocated that “not considering Bishop Grandin’s life work would be erasing history and would be doing him an injustice.” She noted how he cared for the people of St. Albert during the 1870 smallpox pandemic by going house to house to wash the sick, give them food and water and tending to their souls.
Kevin Malinowski, 60, endorsed the motion by declaring that “it is time to stop dragging our feet” and “stop rattling around empty words to the public to make ourselves feel better because it does nothing for the Indigenous people.”
Councillor Shelley Biermanski observed that renaming initiatives in other communities “came with more spite. Society is more divided. Relationships of many types are fractured. Canada Day was attacked. Our ancestors were attacked. Many people were told to hate their ancestors, hate themselves and hate their churches. Churches have been burned.”
St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron voted affirmatively.
"I'm going to cast my vote today not in judgment of Bishop Grandin, but in the acknowledgement of the resulting harm. The decision that I'm going to make today is not about cancelling culture. It's about not celebrating the name Grandin and acknowledging and finding a deeper understanding.”
While Grandin’s name has been removed as a neighbourhood namesake, Heron stated that “it doesn’t mean we are not going to continue to talk about him or what he did to contribute to St. Albert; good or bad.”
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)
A version of this story appeared in the March 30, 2025, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "Bishop Grandin erased from Alberta neighbourhood".
Share this article:
Join the conversation and have your say: submit a letter to the Editor. Letters should be brief and must include full name, address and phone number (street and phone number will not be published). Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
