I am today reminded of others who wokism is currently judging........for example, Sir Winston Churchill (another person who features prominently in St. Albert's naming inventory). Churchill held views that many today consider appalling.
However, it is unequivocally accepted that Churchill’s will and determination inspired a nation and were crucial to the defeat of the Third Reich - indeed, were it not for Churchill, it is entirely possible that the Swastika would currently be flying over Buckingham Palace and Whitehall. Churchill's legacy should not be tarnished for something we didn't even have a name for back then. We should be wary of ‘presentism’ – the judging of people of another time by the standards of today.
But in St. Albert, a “jury” of small-town councillors has anointed themselves and, thereby, elevated themselves as history's judge and jury……to decide the judgement to be passed upon Bishop Grandin…..a man born some 200 years ago and who was critical in the transformation of a thinly populated wilderness into the Western Canada we know today. The “jury” is clearly not of his peers.
As is the case with Sir Winton Churchill, nobody in St. Albert’s past is more deserving of having places named after him than Bishop Grandin.
But today, a handful of self-appointed judges have chosen to burn the books of our history….to attempt to rewrite the past and bury the history of a singularly accomplished man critical to our development under the dirt of a woke “Garden”.
May the jury that judges each of you be as equally adept at balancing your contributions with your sins as you have just proven to be.
Oh, and good luck in the next election.
Don Thompson, St. Albert
