Venerable Vital-Justin Grandin

Vital-Justin Grandin (8 February 1829 – 3 June 1902) was a Roman Catholic priest and bishop. He has been labelled as a key architect of the Canadian Indian residential school system by contemporary news sources, which has been considered an instrument of cultural genocide. In June 2021, this led to governments and private businesses to begin removing his name from institutions and infrastructure previously named for him. He served the Church in the western parts of what is now Canada both before and after Confederation. He is also the namesake or co-founder of various small communities and neighbourhoods in what is now Alberta, Canada, especially those of francophone residents. Grandin was born in Saint-Pierre-sur-Orthe, France, on 8 February 1829. He was the ninth son in a family of fourteen children of Jean Grandin and Marie Veillard. He joined the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1851 and was ordained a priest in 1854; one month later he was sent to Canada to perform missionary work in what was then Rupert's Land. Upon arrival he was sent to Saint-Boniface, where Bishop Alexandre-Antonin Taché was in charge. Having received no specialized preparation in the seminary for work among native populations, he had to develop linguistic skills in the field. Grandin was subsequently assigned to a mission at Fort Chipewyan (now in Alberta). He next served at Île-à-la-Crosse (now in Saskatchewan) for a number of years. On 11 December 1857 Pope Pius IX named Grandin Taché's coadjutor and titular bishop of Satala. He continued to reside at Île-à-la-Crosse. When Taché suggested creating a new vicariate in the Mackenzie River basin, Grandin made an extensive tour of the missions in the area, and worked on the logistics of supply. " Despite having the support of northern missionaries Grandin, characteristically timid and hesitant, presented objections to his candidacy." He recommended Henri Faraud instead.