A busy Winnipeg street brandishing the name of a Bishop who encouraged residential schools could soon be called something else.

Talks about renaming Bishop Grandin Boulevard, named after a Catholic Bishop who supported erasing Indigenous culture, are not new, but recent conversations about residential schools are bringing that idea back to light. 

After speaking with Reanna Merasty, the chair of Welcoming Winnipeg, last week, Mayor Brian Bowman says he is going to talk to his city council.

"It’s time for the name “Bishop Grandin Boulevard” to change," the Mayor tweets.

He will be bringing this motion forward next week.

"To other people, it is just a name. To Indigenous people, it is something that represents our history but also the massive amount of kin and relatives that we have lost from that name and from that history," Merasty said in an interview last week. "For myself, it is something that has me kind of cringe, or something that really makes me feel uncomfortable as I am moving through that space."

Last week Merasty was unsure if these conversations about Route 165's name would lead to something further, but now Bowman is receiving support for the move.

Councillor Vivian Santos agrees with the move, saying it is an important step in reconciliation. 

"I am in full support of this motion, our path toward reconciliation must be Indigenous-led, community-based, Survivor-centric and culturally sensitive for meaningful change," she tweets.