Grandin neighbourhood in St. Albert being renamed The Gardens

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 19, 2025 8:13 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

One of St. Albert's oldest and largest neighbourhoods is getting a caller name. 

The south-side neighbourhood of Grandin is being renamed The Gardens.

It's the latest metropolis to region the name of Vital Grandin, the first Roman Catholic bishop successful St. Albert and a proponent and architect of Canada's residential schoolhouse system.

At an hours-long gathering Tuesday, city assembly heard aggregate radical talk for and against the determination earlier voting 5-2 to alteration the name. 

A 2nd question passed 6-1 approving the caller name, The Gardens.

"I deliberation if I had been asked connected a plebiscite 15 years agone to rename Grandin,  I astir apt would person said 'don't bash it'. But I cognize amended now, and I privation to bash better," St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron told the packed assembly chambers, earlier tearing up.

"I'm going to formed my ballot contiguous not successful judgement of Bishop Grandin, but successful the acknowledgement of the resulting harm. The determination that I'm going to marque contiguous is not astir cancelling culture. It's astir not celebrating the sanction Grandin and acknowledging and uncovering a deeper understanding."

It's not the archetypal clip the Grandin namesake has been removed. In caller years, an Edmonton school, an LRT station, respective streets successful Winnipeg and a Calgary schoolhouse person each been renamed. 

But successful St. Albert, Grandin is also prevalent among the names of galore businesses.

"We've got a agelong roadworthy up of america if we proceed to justice each azygous idiosyncratic that has thing named aft them successful St. Albert," said Coun. Shelley Biermanski, 1 of 2 dissenters.

"We're each liable to look guardant to a peaceful existence. Reconciliation is simply a worthy goal, which successful my sentiment won't beryllium achieved by rewriting history."

Earlier successful the evening, galore long-time residents spoke of their emotion for Grandin, 1 of its oldest neighbourhoods successful St. Albert.

Amanda Patrick spoke fondly of the tree-lined streets and affable neighbours successful the community, wherever she's raising her sons and her ma and member unrecorded a fewer blocks away.

"The Grandin sanction does not align with the quality of this community," Patrick said.

"I judge profoundly that erstwhile you cognize better, you bash better. Changing the crushed and sanction is not astir erasing past oregon people."

Mary O'Neill, a erstwhile Alberta MLA, argued that St. Albert should alternatively instrumentality different steps to beforehand reconciliation. 

She said the metropolis should contented an authoritative apology for the wounded that was inflicted successful the past "under other, albeit unelected leaders similar Bishop Grandin."

"We won't beforehand arsenic a assemblage if we ignore, bury, adjacent justice the past from the position of the present," O'Neill said.

"We cannot contradict history, but arsenic the saying goes, we tin larn from it. And we tin bash better."

The neighbourhood volition officially instrumentality connected its caller sanction The Gardens successful September. In an interrogation with Radio-Canada Wednesday, Heron described the process.

She said 3 streets with the Grandin sanction volition beryllium changed portion the metropolis volition instrumentality attraction of changes to documents specified arsenic onshore titles. Canada Post is acceptable to guardant message to the caller addresses for a year. Any costs to those residents similar having licences reissued, volition beryllium covered by the city, Heron added.

"I'm hoping radical volition spot that arsenic a truly bully name, a affirmative name. It's precise reflective of who we are arsenic a community," Heron said reflecting connected the caller name, The Gardens.

"After the gathering yesterday, with a bully practice from some sides of the debate, I'm truly hoping this assemblage tin clasp the alteration and determination guardant and commencement healing."