 Grandin was an early supporter of the Canadian Indian residential school system believing that the best way to civilize Indigenous peoples was to educate the young.In 1880 he wrote a letter to then Public Works Minister Hector-Louis Langevin explaining that boarding schools were the best way to ensure children "forget the customs, habits & language of their ancestors".Grandin was never completely healthy; he had been a sickly child and also had a speech impediment, and his health deteriorated during his later years.