Morinville council has moved to partner with Alexander First Nation to address truth and reconciliation — a process that could involve changes to its street names.
Town council voted unanimously June 8 to get a report on how to do a comprehensive community collaboration with Alexander First Nation and town residents to act on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
Mayor Barry Turner said he made this motion in response to several letters from the public calling on the town to strike Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin’s name from town landmarks in the wake of the discovery of the remains of 215 children buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
The Kamloops children were amongst the more than 4,100 children known to have died while at residential schools. Grandin, the first bishop of St. Albert, was an enthusiastic proponent of Canada’s residential school system. Grandin Drive in Morinville is named after him.
“The recent discovery of 215 children buried at the (former) Kamloops residential school has done nothing less than wake up the country to the truth of colonial institutions that amount to cultural genocide,” Turner said, referring to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission main conclusion about residential schools.
While Turner agreed council should probably change the name of Grandin Drive, and soon, he said reconciliation was not something that could be wrapped up before this fall’s municipal election. Morinville was built on many colonial practices and needs to examine its history in detail in partnership with the Indigenous community.
“There’s a lot of work we need to do,” he said.
Turner said council would get this process rolling when it met with Alexander First Nation councillors later this month, and emphasized that the Indigenous community must lead that process.
“Our country has a long history, and this is going to be a long discussion.”
Town chief administrative officer Stephane Labonne said staffers were already working on potential revisions to the town’s street name list, and agreed the town should not rush reconciliation.
Coun. Sarah Hall said many councils across Canada were jumping the gun in their reaction to the Kamloops discovery by imposing changes without consulting Indigenous residents about them, which was contrary to the spirit of reconciliation. She noted how Morinville council had repeatedly expressed interest in better relations with Alexander, yet also ignored many suggestions made by its leadership, such as to not hold National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations in St. Jean Baptiste Park.
“It’s unfortunate Canada had to be cracked open with the discovery of these bodies to be open to change,” Hall said, adding she hoped this new process would strengthen the town’s bonds with Alexander.
The report is due by July 13.
