It was a lengthy debate but Quesnel City Council censured Mayor Ron Paull and eventually sanctioned him at Tuesday night’s meeting.
The action was in response to the Mayor taking a controversial book (Grave Error: How the Media Misled Us and the Truth about Residential Schools) to a CRD meeting in Williams Lake, where he is accused of trying to distribute it.
The motion of censure talked about the code of conduct and ethics all Council members must conduct themselves with, about the damage that has been done to the relationship between the city and the Lhtako Dene Nation, and that Mayor Ron Paull’s actions were disrespectful to the history of residential schools and contrary to the city’s goal of mutual respect and reconciliation.
The sanctions against him include the removal of the Mayor’s travel budget and lobbying budget, as well as the removal of the Mayor from organizations that require Council approval including Cariboo Regional District representation, Northern Development Initiative Trust, and removal of the Mayor from the City Committees.
Councillors Mitch Vik and Martin Runge initially wanted to go with less punitive measures.
Vik talked about taking a measured and principled approach.
“I strongly believe we should deliver discipline in a manner where it’s measured and that we can check in with the results of that, and then should we find that it’s not respected then we should be able to advance to another level of discipline. That’s not clearly laid out here on how we might do that.”
Runge agreed.
“I think we do need to have some sanctions tonight but I would like to keep them on a lower level so we can progressively move up. I would like to see us sanction something that follows along the lines of what was asked for by our Indigenous community as our starting point. I would rather start with the removal of the Mayor from any of our work with Indigenous Relations and that is where I would leave it.”
Others, including Councillor Scott Elliott, said that they needed to send a strong message.
“There has been a lot of damage done, we have to repair it. We’ve put that MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Lhtako in jeopardy, and if that gets ripped up I don’t know how we come back from that, so we have to be strong right now. We have to make a difference right now. This is an opportunity to send a strong message to our Indigenous partners, to our community, to the province, and in fact the world because we hit the news all over the place.”
Many, including Councillor Laurey-Anne Roodenburg talked about the consequences of not doing enough.
“We need to be really cognizant of the fact that the fallout from our actions tonight will have repercussions for the next 2 1/2 years as a Council. There is no ifs, ands or buts about it. Our First Nations will not deal with us if they don’t see us moving forward in a meaningful fashion here. When we talk about lobbying efforts, we know right now that the province won’t tough us with a 10 foot pole, the feds are going what the wholly whatever, so if we think we’re going to have doors open for us when we go down to Victoria to speak to Ministers or anybody that’s in government, we will not get that right now until we can prove how we’re moving forward.”
Councillor Tony Goulet noted that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action were also in play.
“There are some actions in there that municipalities have to do in order to enhance indigenous rights which are in the Act. What I am trying to get at here is that municipalities need to engage and be part of the Indigenous communities and Indigenous people.”
Goulet also talked about being on the international stage and how everybody is looking to see where they go as a community, and as a City Council.
Councillor Debra McKelvie asked if there was going to be a time period for when Council could review the sanctions and they ended up landing on three months.
A member of the gallery requested that Council talk to First Nations prior to making a decision.
Mayor Ron Paull was not in the room when the votes were taking place.
Before leaving though he did ask if he were to make a move to correct his alleged poor behavior what he should stop doing, short of being married to Pat (his wife is accused of distributing the book), and obviously making a poor choice of taking that book to the CRD.
Councillor Elliott called on him to take responsibility for what he had done, and for the pain that you caused in the community, and to offer an apology.
Mayor Paull responded.
“I think I did express regret that I picked the wrong book, and yes I am sorry for doing that. I am saying that on your part, and you were the one leading the cause against me, that there was a misunderstanding. I didn’t mean any harm, I saw an opportunity to take that book to Williams Lake because we had quite a spirited discussion about the sexual orientation and gender identity books being placed on low shelves (in the CRD library), and that really upset me. That was my reaction, so if anything, yes I am sorry for picking the wrong book, but it was just a spirit of the moment thing.”
The Mayor once again denied distributing the book though.
He also read a statement at the beginning of the night in anticipation of what was coming.
Paull noted that “he was a long-time supporter of our Indigenous neighbours and my work in advancing reconciliation is a matter of public record. For example, I have proudly served for the past 17 years as a founding Director of the New Pathways to Gold Society, as we have leveraged millions of dollars for Indigenous programs, Indigenous heritage projects and Indigenous economic development. It is a record that truly gives me pride. I wholeheartedly intend on continuing giving back to my community for as long as I am able.”
Paull also noted at the beginning of the meeting that he is currently paying a legal team to represent him and that he may have no comment on some questions because of legal advice.
– with files from George Henderson, My Cariboo Now staff