With the March 18 city council meeting on what to do with the Grandin name looming, some St. Albert and Grandin residents are voicing their frustration regarding the process of the city thus far.
But a member of a local Indigenous organization is urging for citizens to use the situation as an opportunity to further educate themselves.
The last few months have been turbulent for Grandin neighbourhood residents. An application to rename the municipal assets was submitted in the fall of 2024, followed by an online consultation set up by the city and a failed motion to take the decision to the plebiscite on March 4 is all leading to Tuesday's presentation from city staff and council vote on what to do with the neighbourhood's name.
Click here for a timeline of the Grandin renaming process.
For some St. Albert residents, a perceived lack of public consultation and lack of transparency has led to anger, confusion and a sense that their voices aren't being properly heard.
The Cultivate the Conversation portal opened on Feb. 3 and closed Feb. 21, which was an online consultation survey done by the city to collect suggestions for new names for the Grandin municipal assets. Respondents were required to input a postal code and email address. The results are being reviewed by city staff and will be brought forth to the March 18 meeting.
For St. Albert and Grandin resident Marylin Wagner, the process has felt disorganized and as though a decision was made from the start. She expressed frustration over a panel on renaming held in October 2022, as well as the plebiscite motion being voted on two weeks before the renaming decision when the Cultivate the Conversation results and background information will be released. The online survey itself added to that frustration.
"I thought to myself, 'this seems kind of weird. It's all about new names when renaming hasn't even occurred,'" Wagner said. She decided to suggest the current name, Grandin, and put her justification into the subsequent text fields.
Another Grandin resident, Leonard Blakey, also suggested the Grandin name, with his own justification of why it was important, but has found himself frustrated with the process followed by the city up to this point.
"The process has been very damaging to the community, and has been handled in a way that has caused more harm than good," Blakey said. "Both sides have obvious, valid concerns. And there's not been a way presented to address those concerns. It is an all or nothing process."
"Cultivate the Conversation, it was an abject failure in my view if your only purpose was to get new names," Wagner said. "It wasn't about 'what do you think about this name still?' That's discouraging."
Fred Holtsag said he feels the process has happened "all too quickly."
"It took virtually everyone by surprise that the Cultivate the Conversation survey was out, so I immediately went there. I think I had one day to spare and if a friend hadn't told me about it I wouldn't have known it was happening," Holtsag said.
He also entered the Grandin name and has set up a website with a petition entitled "Fight for Grandin" at fightforgrandin.info in advance of the March 18 council meeting. (The petition was not live as of Gazette press time Wednesday afternoon.)
The Gazette also canvassed Grandin Road residents to attempt to reach out to residents who would be affected by address changes.
Shelley Tooth didn't realize the Cultivate the Conversation portal had been running, and an inquiry from the Gazette was how she found out about it.
Another resident, Norm Peters, participated in the survey, but felt that it was a waste of time.
"It should have been 'Are you in favour? Are you not?' That wasn't there. It was all to change the name," Peters said.
Learning from history
Phyllis Kelly, community engagement committee lead and director with the St. Albert - Sturgeon County Métis Local 1904, believes the question of the Grandin renaming is not about renaming everything, or opening up the possibility of what will be renamed next.
"I know that's been mentioned quite a bit. It's a question of looking at names that no longer bring honour to the city of St. Albert," Kelly said. Bishop Vital Grandin, who was one of the architects of the residential school system, is one of those names.
Kelly pointed to a direct quote from Bishop Grandin on his thoughts of residential schools, which reads: "We will instill in them a pronounced distaste for this kind of life so they are humiliated when reminded of their origins."
She said she noticed a lack of awareness during the March 4 council meeting, where many spoke out against renaming Grandin.
"It's been mentioned that we should leave the name as a way to educate people. But living in a community doesn't mean you're researching the names or researching things about it."
In regards to the process and policy followed by the city to this point, Kelly participated in the Cultivate the Conversation survey, and found it was satisfactory.
"There was plenty of opportunity to add comments, it was a wide open box. Although maybe it didn't ask the question that some people wanted asked, the opportunity to give that feedback was certainly there."
She said she understands the fear that some may have in regards to changing not only their address, but their driver's license and the number of other utility services residents will be required to contact should the renaming go through.
"It's helping people understand that change can be scary, change can be different. But change can also bring about good. In this case we're living within a community that has a rich Indigenous history. And yet we dishonour the city, we dishonour those people, we dishonour the memory of the people that lived here before by continuing to honour a name of someone that doesn't deserve to be honoured," she said.
The Gazette reached out to the various businesses bearing the Grandin name, but they either declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries.
In an email, Manager, Corporate Communications and Design for the city of St. Albert Cory Sinclair said information about the specialized engagement opportunities offered to Grandin residents would be presented to council on March 18, and could not provide additional information until after the Council meeting.
