St. Albert will seek public input on city names including roads, neighbourhoods, and streets, council heard Dec. 2.
During budget deliberations, council voted to use $325,000 to fund community engagement to determine whether certain neighbourhoods and streets, including those named after Bishop Vital Grandin, should be renamed. The funding will be used to contract research, develop educational material, and engage extensively with the community.
The funding also includes an update to St. Albert’s existing naming policy, which will direct how municipal infrastructure is named in the future.
Coun. Natalie Joly, who put forward the motion to fund the naming initiatives, said taking a closer look at municipal names is important to her because she doesn't want to see St. Albert “repeat the mistakes of yesterday, tomorrow.”
“We’ve seen the cost of our current policy in terms of overwhelming demand on staff time, and as we saw this past summer, frustration, anger, and sadness of residents,” Joly said.
Over the summer, the discovery of the remains of 215 children buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School spurred a public reckoning with the legacy of residential school supporters.
Joly noted public engagement will look at reconciliation, in addition to “all aspects of inclusion.”
“This is why this project isn’t a simple name replacement,” Joly said.
Holy Family Catholic School — formerly known as Vital Grandin Catholic School — underwent a recent renaming on Sept. 29. Joly argued council is “already moving more cautiously” than its community partners.
Mayor Cathy Heron also spoke in support of the motion, noting the renaming process won’t be “easy work.”
“It’s the right thing to do,” Heron said.
Coun. Shelley Biermanski voiced uncertainty about the motion, raising concerns about name-change proposals being unable to receive consensus from the public.
“It can be a contentious issue between individuals that don’t agree on things,” Biermanski said. “What one person feels is offensive to themselves, may be different to someone else, and then you’re in a battle constantly … there could be a lot of public discourse.”
Coun. Sheena Hughes noted the potential monetary impact of a name change for both the city and for residents who might need to change personal identification, such as passports.
Hughes also argued there would be a potential for community engagement to snowball into endless name changes.
“Where will the line in the sand be before everything is considered offensive and we are changing a lot of neighbourhoods and streets?” Hughes asked. “It comes back to exactly who has to be offended for it to be considered a rename … ultimately almost every street could get renamed if you so chose."
Joly said council is only looking to begin the public engagement process, and that the motion to fund engagement does not presuppose an outcome.
“The questions you’re asking, Coun. Hughes, are really important ones — how do we address Grandin Road that has municipal addresses on it?” Joly said. “My understanding is, those questions are going to be discussed through this process.”
The motion to fund the policy review and public engagement surrounding naming passed by a majority, with Coun. Biermanski opposed.
