“The ‘City of Edmonton’ is planning to remove murals depicting the residential school system from the Government Centre LRT station later this fall. The murals have been covered by orange {The NDP’s colour} panelling since city council voted unanimously in favour of obscuring them and removing the reference in the LRT station’s name to Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin, who was an advocate for the residential school system, in June.
“After discussions with the ‘Grandin Working Circle’ and other ‘stakeholders’ {Like who?}, the city announced plans to remove the three original sections of the mural in a Thursday news release.
“The original mural space will remain covered in orange while the ‘Working Circle’ continues to determine a new name and vision for the station. Métis {Mixed-Race} ‘Elder’ {‘old person’} and member of ‘Working Circle’ Dr. Terry Lusty said the murals which are, “glorifying one of the architects of Canada’s residential school system”, caused ‘distress’ to ‘survivors’ {the politicized, pejorative term for ‘former students’} and their families.
“With no intent to offend anyone, but in an effort to address the ‘discomfort’ and ‘re-traumatization’ of ‘survivors’, it was decided to remove ‘the images causing the grief’ and eventually replace them with more ‘acceptable’ images that have yet to be determined”,
said Lusty in the news release.
“The murals were installed on the west wall of what was then known as Grandin LRT Station in 1989 to commemorate Francophone history and heritage in Alberta. The mural included an image of Grandin and depicted the residential school system.
{Aboriginals now rank higher than Francophones in the Canadian virtue-signalling hierarchy…}
“Grandin, who lived in St. Albert, lobbied the federal government to invest in the practice of separating ‘Indigenous’ children from their families and removing them from their culture.
“The decision to cover the murals and remove his name from city property came after the discovery of 215 children buried at a former residential school site in Kamloops in May.
{Quit repeating that lie. NO graves or bodies have been found!}
“The controversial mural was covered up hours after city council’s vote and crews immediately began removing references to Grandin on maps and signs throughout the transit system…”
–‘City of Edmonton plans removal of murals depicting the residential school system from downtown LRT station’,
Allison Pelech, Edmonton Journal, September 23, 2021
“Calgary {Muslim} Mayor Naheed Nenshi called upon the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) and the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) to devise new names for Bishop Grandin High School and Langevin School respectively.
“The time for dithering has long passed. The time for process has long passed”,
Nenshi said May 31 in response to the ‘discovery’ of the 215’ Indigenous’ children found buried at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.
{Of course, NO bodies – or even graves – have been found!}
“Both of those boards should change the names of those schools at their next meetings.”
–‘Bishop Grandin’s legacy under intense scrutiny’,
QUINTON AMUNDSON, THE CATHOLIC REGISTER, June 11, 2021
https://www.catholicregister.org/item/33205-bishop-grandin-s-legacy-under-intense-scrutiny
Background:
“Shortly after taking charge of his diocese, Grandin became convinced that attempts to “civilize” and evangelize native adults would have negligible results and that it would be preferable to concentrate on weaning children from their traditional lifestyle. He felt that they would have to be isolated from their environment and given a basic education with an introduction to suitable vocational skills. For this purpose, in 1879–80 Grandin asked the federal authorities to help by increasing grants to existing schools and orphanages and by building industrial schools. In the latter, boys would spend part of the day working on the school’s farm and in its shops, and girls would learn domestic arts in the kitchen and laundry. As a result of requests by Grandin and other missionaries, the government authorized the construction of three industrial schools in the west in 1883…
“Grandin’s determination to create a native clergy was not shared by all his missionaries, many of whom tended to regard certain traits among Indians and Métis as insurmountable barriers to a religious vocation. Although European in outlook and orthodox in religious convictions, Grandin nevertheless demonstrated more than usual sympathy for ‘indigenous’ {sic} peoples. He was prepared to make allowances for the particular status and circumstances of native populations in the northwest and would not apply rigidly to them the rules governing admission to the sacraments that were binding on Catholics elsewhere. Acquainted with the Indian character and mentality, Grandin urged his missionaries to avoid excessive severity when dealing with transgressors and to be charitable and forgiving.
“Prior to the North-West rebellion of 1885, Grandin realized that the Métis in his diocese were suffering, and he made numerous representations to the authorities to alleviate their plight. As the position of the Métis deteriorated and their frustrations mounted, Grandin sought simultaneously to maintain them in a state of obedience and to obtain justice for them from the government. Although he deplored the recourse to arms in 1885, he remained convinced that it had been English-speaking residents who had provoked the Métis to rebel by attempting to steal their lands. He claimed, moreover, that the authorities had overlooked these illegal activities and this disregard had further infuriated the Métis.
“Towards Louis Riel, Grandin was utterly hostile. He judged the Métis leader a raging madman {!} who, pretending to be inspired by God, had deceived people and forced them to take up arms. After the rebellion, Grandin interceded on behalf of the incarcerated and he urged the government to be as lenient as possible. He also was concerned about the material well-being of the Métis who were alienating their lands. Thus he encouraged them to establish themselves in the colony that Father Albert Lacombe* had founded for them at Saint-Paul-des-Métis (St Paul, Alta)…”
–‘GRANDIN, VITAL-JUSTIN’,
Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume XIII (1901-1910)
http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/grandin_vital_justin_13E.html
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“Grandin was an early supporter of the Canadian Indian residential school system, believing that they faced extinction and the best way for Indian Peoples “to become civilized” and avoid destruction was to educate the young with the “consent of their parents“…
“The 2015 Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada states that he had “led the campaign for residential schooling“, convinced that parents would willingly give their children to boarding schools. He wrote,
“The poor Indians wish nothing more than the happiness of their children. They foresee well enough the future which awaits them and often beg of us to take them so that we can prepare them for a better prospect”.
“In a letter to Canada’s first Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald, Grandin stressed the “success” that had been achieved at the missionary boarding schools, and reported,
“The children whom we have brought up are no longer Indians & at the time of leaving our Establishments, the boys at least, do not wish to receive even the ordinary grants made to Indians, they wish to live like the whites and they are able to do so”.
—From “Canada’s Residential Schools: The History, Part 1 Origins to 1939: Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Volume 1“. National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 2015.
https://web.archive.org/web/20200505161532/http://trc.ca/about-us/trc-findings.html
“Many institutions were named for Grandin during the 20th century, including Edmonton-area businesses, schools, and city infrastructure.This included public murals painted in homage of him as late as 1989, which were one of the first items related to Grandin to come under scrutiny in 2011, when an ‘Indigenous’ {sic, Canadian Aboriginals are ‘Indigenous’ to Mongolia and Siberia} working group in Edmonton found the mural glorified residential schooling “and of all the ‘horrors’ of the {so-called} cultural genocide that entailed“.
“In June 2021, after the discovery of unmarked graves of Indigenous children on the grounds of a former residential school site in Kamloops, British Columbia {NO bodies – or even graves – have been found!}, Edmonton and St. Albert city officials, as well as private businesses, began removing his name in reaction to a strengthening public condemnation of his role in creating the ‘Indigenous’ residential school system. Similar pushes to remove his name also occurred in other cities, including the Canadian cities of Winnipeg and Calgary, as well as smaller communities like South Indian Lake, Manitoba.
‘Buildings and businesses the Grandin name has been removed from’
–June 9, 2021: The city of Edmonton votes to rename the Grandin LRT station and remove a mural of Grandin displayed in the station.
–June 15, 2021: ‘Grandin Fish ‘n’ Chips’ restaurant renames to ‘Prairie Fish ‘n’ Chips’.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQJrEUKAqEY/
–June 28, 2021: Edmonton Catholic Schools votes to rename Grandin School and remove a mural depicting Bishop Grandin on an exterior wall of the school.
https://www.ecsd.net/_ci/p/18224
–June 28, 2021: Calgary Catholic School District votes to rename Bishop Grandin High School to Haysboro Catholic High School.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7986265/calgary-catholic-bishop-grandin-high-school-renaming/
–June 28, 2021: In a Special Public Meeting, Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools’ unanimously approved a motion to change the name of Vital Grandin Catholic Elementary School by Sept. 30, 2021. Signage was removed from the school building immediately following the decision.
–‘Vital-Justin Grandin’,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vital-Justin_Grandin
‘”key architect” lead’
“The lead is misleading insofar as it gives the reader the immediate impression that Vital-Justin Grandin intended for the forced assimilation program that the Canadian government undertook in the residential schools… From the Truth and Reconciliation Report, cited in the article, the forced attendance was never Vital-Justin Grandin’s intention or any part of his idea for the residential schools. In fact, the opposite is documented: a consensual education…”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Vital-Justin_Grandin
See also:
‘Blown Out of Proportion’ {Aug.29, 2019}:
“My great uncle was a Catholic priest teaching at a far north residential school in the 1960’s. I can tell you, this man had integrity, and would never have been involved in abuse, or even tolerated it around him. I believe a few cases of such abuse have been multiplied and blown out of proportion, to obtain settlements and perpetuate victimhood by some aboriginals. But not all. We don’t hear about the ones who had positive experiences in residential schools, do we? Why?”
https://endracebasedlaw.ca/2019/08/29/blown-out-of-proportion/
‘Residential Schools: Myths vs. Evidence’ {Sept.03, 2019}:
“Canadians are constantly being told that the Indian residential school system is at the root of the many dysfunctions in ‘indigenous’ {No, aboriginal} society today. Alcoholism, violence, poverty and poor educational attainment are all blamed on these schools, the last of which closed in the 1990s.
“Here are some myths and some facts:
“Myth: residential schools robbed all native kids of their childhoods.
Fact: the average stay was only 4.5 years and the vast majority of aboriginal youth never attended such a school...”
https://endracebasedlaw.ca/2019/09/03/residential-schools-myths-vs-evidence/
‘Creating A Legend: The Orange Shirt’ {Sept.30, 2020}:
It’s understandable that a child would be upset by having to trade in a favourite piece of clothing for a school uniform, but it was the same for all children — not just aboriginal — at religious schools. What isn’t understandable is that she would still be holding a grievance all these years later. This is where counselling comes in…
“‘Orange Shirt Day’ began in Williams Lake in 2013 and has since spread to schools across B.C. and Canada. ‘Orange Shirt Day’ (September 30th) is a day when we honour the ‘Indigenous’ {sic, ‘Aboriginal’} children who were sent away to residential schools in Canada and learn more about the history of those schools…”
https://canadiansforlegalequality.wordpress.com/2020/09/30/creating-a-legend-the-orange-shirt/
‘Communists and Aboriginals Take Down Another Canadian Statue’ {August 13, 2018}:
“It’s part of our history I feel is being ripped right out and gutted down. I think that’s just terrible. They just pushed it right through — the public wasn’t allowed to have a say.”
“A statue of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, has been removed from the front steps of Victoria City Hall. The monument was taken down, wrapped in foam and strapped to a flat-bed truck on Saturday morning to be placed in storage. City council voted to remove the statue as a gesture of {one-way} ‘reconciliation’ earlier this week…”
https://endracebasedlaw.ca/2018/08/13/communists-and-aboriginals-take-down-another-canadian-statue/
‘Champlain’s Return’ {Aug.21, 2019}:
“A much-debated monument to Samuel de Champlain will be reinstalled in an Ontario town with significant changes, Parks Canada announced Wednesday. The original monument in Orillia, northeast of Toronto, portrayed the French explorer along with several other figures, including four statues of ‘First Nations’ {aboriginal} people represented in a way some considered ‘racist’.”
https://endracebasedlaw.ca/2019/08/21/champlains-return/
‘Caving in to Victimization Fantasies’ {July 6, 2019}:
“Riverview High School in Coxheath, N.S., is dropping the Redmen name from its hockey program in an effort to be more ‘culturally respectful’. The name was chosen almost 50 years ago because of the colour of the team’s jersey and candy cane socks, and did not refer to ‘indigenous’ {they mean ‘aboriginal’} people…”
https://endracebasedlaw.ca/2019/07/06/caving-in-to-victimization-fantasies/
END RACE BASED LAW Daily News Canada 