The City of Williams Lake is expected to respond tomorrow (Tuesday) night to an open letter criticizing Mayor Walt Cobb for a social media post he shared on residential schools.
Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars sent an open letter to the City about a post titled “Residential Schools-the other side of the story.”
Sellars noted that the essence of the post was that residential schools weren’t so bad and that there were a lot of good things about them.
Sellars has asked the City to clarify its position on residential schools and the impact that they had on First Nations people.
That formal response will come at tomorrow night’s Council meeting.
“The City of Williams Lake takes this matter seriously, and continues to work toward meaningful reconciliation,” said Gary Muraca, Chief Administrative Officer.
“Williams Lake remains committed to reconciliation efforts in collaboration with our First Nations neighbours moving forward.”
ORIGINAL STORY:
Content Warning: Residential Schools
Williams Lake First Nation (WLFN) Chief Willie Sellars penned an open letter in response to a Facebook post Williams Lake Mayor Walt Cobb shared involving residential schools.
In the letter, Sellars writes:
“Without getting into exhaustive detail, the pith and substance is that this post is something shared by a non-indigenous individual which refers to a letter allegedly written by a First Nations individual that says (and I’m admittedly paraphrasing) that ‘residential schools weren’t so bad, and that there were a lot of good things about them.”
Sellars also recalled a Williams Lake City Council meeting in June of 2020, in which Sellars says Mayor Cobb and Councillor Marnie Brenner made comments to the effect of “there are always two sides of the story”. Brenner apologized for the comments she had made two days later.
“WLFN Council is asking for a formal response from the City of Williams Lake as to their position on Mayor Cobb’s social media post. Further, we would like the City Council to formally clarify their position in relation to residential schools and the impact of those schools on First Nations people,” said Sellars.
He added that he is requesting the response by the end of day on November 1st.
Chief Sellars’ full letter and the post Mayor Cobb shared has been posted on the Williams Lake First Nation’s website.
Files from Darin Bain, MyCaribooNow