City council will make the decision on whether to rename the Grandin neighbourhood on March 18, rather than leaving it to voters in a plebiscite this fall.
On Tuesday, March 4, council defeated a motion by Coun. Sheena Hughes to take the Grandin renaming conversation to a plebiscite as part of municipal elections in October by a vote of 5-2. Hughes and Coun. Shelley Biermanski voted in favour, while Mayor Cathy Heron and councillors Wes Brodhead, Natalie Joly, Mike Killick and Ken MacKay were opposed.
St. Albert received an application to rename the Grandin neighbourhood last fall because of the role Bishop Vital Grandin played in establishing the residential school system. The city opened a portal where residents could submit suggestions for a new name from Feb. 3 to Feb. 21.
A variety of speakers came forward say whether they supported a plebiscite and to give their reasons.
Former mayor Richard Plain addressed council, urging them to delay the vote on Hughes's plebiscite motion to March 18, the same day the reports pertaining to the renaming of Grandin will be brought to the city.
Hughes also wanted the plebiscite question to be debated on March 18, and said she put in the specific date in her notice of motion, but it was moved onto the March 4 agenda.
“I gave notice of the full three weeks because I wanted to respect the process. I wanted to give everybody an opportunity to get a proper backgrounder and to be able to have the time to think about it,” Hughes said.
Heron said there was no specific date in the initial notice of motion and it was only labelled as prior to the Grandin renaming vote. She also felt the renaming decision and the decision about whether it should go to the electorate should remain separate. She said speakers who prepared for the renaming conversation on March 18 would have had their preparations made null and void if the plebiscite motion passed.
Hughes said her main reason for tabling the plebiscite motion was because she felt the public was not properly consulted on the renaming of Grandin.
The plebiscite question would have been presented in three sections.
1) Do you support the renaming of the roads and lanes?
2) Do you support the renaming of the parks?
3) Do you support the renaming of the neighbourhood Grandin?
“We’ve set up a policy to handle this renaming, with many flaws: we didn’t talk to the public, we didn’t do the right consultation, and we’re hearing that today,” Biermanski said in support of Hughes’s motion.
One resident who said she has lived in St. Albert for 50 years asked if council were to rename Grandin they consider not renaming Grandin Road to make it easier for the residents who would have to change their addresses. As stated on the city’s website, the city has said it would support those who are affected by address changes resulting from any potential renaming decision.
Phyllis Kelly, a director with the St. Albert-Sturgeon River Métis Local 1904, urged council not to vote for a plebiscite, and to instead follow the renaming policy that already exists. It states the naming or renaming of a municipal asset must be an “equitable, inclusive, transparent, and comprehensive process,” and highlighted the need to acknowledge the impacts of colonialism.
“It’s already taken eight months to get to this point. It is not necessary nor appropriate to delay this decision by another eight months. It is time to move forward and proceed with your decision on March 18, and to follow the priorities in your strategic plan to honour truth and action reconciliation,” Kelly said.
When asked about the ongoing harms faced by the Indigenous community, Kelly said “it’s difficult to put into words how people are impacted by names.”
Joly said the vote is about whether council supports its very own policy.
“That policy says that council decides whether a name is changed after it meets the criteria set out in that document. We were elected to make decisions. So, an unenforceable ballot question does not absolve council of that responsibility,” Joly said.
“When push comes to shove and where the buck stops, it stops right here at this council table. And that’s why we have to have the debate here and then ultimately the community will pass judgment on how we did,” Coun. Brodhead said.
Council will make a decision on renaming the Grandin neighbourhood and other Grandin assets on March 18, when the results of the Cultivate the Conversation portal will be presented to them.
