Councillor seeks to speed up Abinojii Mikanah name change

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This article was published 27/10/2023 (732 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg city councillor plans to call for the renaming of Bishop Grandin Boulevard to Abinojii Mikanah to take place as soon as possible.

Coun. Sherri Rollins, chairwoman of the property and development committee, said she will consult council colleagues in an attempt to expedite the change using 2023 funding, if possible — ideally to get it done before the end of this year or early next year.

Rollins said the already city-approved new name marks a vital step toward reconciliation.

“We’re very motivated to get this done as a council and, if there’s in-year money to get it done, I’m certainly talking to my colleagues about that. The intention was there (to get this done) ASAP. We know Winnipeg wants to see this done.”

The Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry councillor acknowledged putting the new name in place before the end of December could prove challenging, since signage and departmental updates are needed and both the implementation plan and funding still await council approval.

Rollins said many Winnipeggers have contacted her to support the name change.

She noted public demands to ramp up reconciliation efforts have grown considerably across Canada in the two years since the first announcement of more than 200 potential unmarked grave sites on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

“Abinojii Mikanah, a street (name) that recognizes the children in a very important way that were lost to genocide… (is) of vital importance,” said Rollins.

Abinojii Mikanah, which means “Children’s Road,” is meant to honour “Indigenous experience, culture, history and all children, including residential school survivors,” Marc Pittet, Winnipeg manager of real estate and land development, writes in a city staff report on the name change.

The report seeks about $211,000 to cover the costs to implement the name change, which would require a bylaw change and council approval. The report calls for funding to be referred for consideration in the 2024-27 multi-year budget process.

A city spokesman indicated those changes will take time and planning.

“The renaming, and changes to the street name signs, is contingent on budget approval, bylaw enactment, plan registration at the Winnipeg Land Titles Office, and ceremony guided by (Indigenous) elders — all of which may take several months to complete,” city spokesman David Driedger wrote in an emailed statement.

The price includes an estimated $100,000 of compensation to cover the “direct costs” (stationary, signage, website updates, etc.) of the name change for affected business owners with addresses on Bishop Grandin Boulevard, as required by a city bylaw.

The cost also includes expenses for Winnipeg Transit, as well as the city’s public works, water and waste and planning departments. That includes updates to databases and apps, as well as new street signs.

An Indigenous leader said changing the boulevard’s name will raise awareness about First Nations history and culture, while helping to bring different communities together.

“It’s a good step moving forward to be able to start acknowledging our languages and our people… A lot of our people live in Winnipeg,” said Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

Merrick said it’s also significant to remove the name Bishop Grandin.

“He was an architect of residential schools… The intergenerational impacts of that whole process still affect our people today,” she said.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada identified the boulevard’s current namesake, Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin (1829-1902), as leading the campaign to establish residential schools, the city report notes.

“Grandin believed that First Nations peoples needed to be ‘civilized’ and viewed residential schools, specifically industrial schools, as the means to accomplish this mission,” writes Pittet.

Council is expected to vote on the staff recommendations Nov. 23.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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