First Nation chief accuses BC mayor of “turning on the gas” after racist Facebook post deleted

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Disclaimer: This story deals with a disturbing subject which may disturb and trigger some readers. Discretion is advised.

The Chief of the Williams Lake First Nation accused the mayor of Williams Lake, BC, of ​​letting his community know about a racist Facebook post that has since been deleted.

Last Friday, Walt Cobb, former MPP and two-term mayor of the City of Cariboo, shared a Facebook post on his private account suggesting that there was an “other side” to residential schools, and that “many new generations just want to be victims and feel that the money would solve their pain.

Cobb apologized to anyone he “offended” at a special council meeting on Tuesday night, but in an interview with Global News he said the First Nation did not honor a mutual agreement to connect privately on issues the city “can help” with.

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“Talk about destroying a relationship,” he said. “It’s a little difficult to deal with issues like this when in fact they don’t live up to what we’ve said before.”

Read more: BC mayor apologizes for residential school post as he faces anger at council meeting

Cobb also suggested during the council meeting that he was a victim of the situation.

Shortly after stating that he had no intention of “making fun of residential schools,” he called a letter from Williams Lake First Nation criticizing his behavior a “personal attack”, since he had shared the controversial post on his private account and not his official mayor’s page.

“Hearing the mayor redouble his efforts on his private Facebook account is disheartening,” said Chief Willie Sellars.

“Mayor Cobb’s remarks enlightening WLFN for even bringing this up in the public eye, saying it’s our fault he’s in the position he’s in – it doesn’t help build a relationship with the public. ‘to come up.”

1: 55Williams Lake mayor faces calls to resign following social media post Williams Lake mayor faces calls to resign following social media post

The text of the Facebook post was first reported by the Williams Lake Tribune. In the days that followed, First Nations in British Columbia and their allies across the country called for Cobb’s resignation.

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He did not respond to those calls on Tuesday, but his council colleagues strongly condemned his actions.

The council passed a resolution requiring everyone to complete an anti-racism and cultural safety training program and voted to include the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action as a “strategic goal” in the official community plan of the city.

He also took an official position that recognizes and condemns the “devastating effects of the 139 residential schools in Canada and the abuse inflicted on innocent children.”

“I think it went well,” Cobb said after the meeting. “We got our point across and it was indicated that what I had done was wrong, or certainly affected a lot of people anyway.”

Read more: Future of BC mayor to be debated after sharing racist post about residential schools

Sellars said he was “unhappy” Cobb had not stepped down, but was encouraged to see councilors “to task” the mayor for the post he shared.

“We are waiting here, and what we want to see is unity, what we want to see is proper reconciliation and dialogue between First Nations and non-Indigenous governments,” he said. told Global News.

“If (Cobb) doesn’t want to quit, he better think about it and he better prepare to have a real discussion about reconciliation.”

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Canada’s residential school system was in place from the late 1800s to the mid-1990s and sought to “eliminate parental involvement in the intellectual, cultural and spiritual development” of Aboriginal children, “according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

State-run institutions and the church forcibly removed more than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children from their families and placed them in schools where many were physically, sexually and spiritually abused by people. responsible for their care. Many have also been starved in the course of scientific experiments on the effects of malnutrition.

Thousands of people have died, resulting in intergenerational trauma that has had a profound and lasting impact on survivors, their children, their relationships and their communities.

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St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in Williams Lake operated from 1886 to 1981 and has since been demolished.

In June, the Williams Lake First Nation launched a search of its land for unmarked burial sites using ground-penetrating radar.

“We’re still dealing with these traumas,” Sellars said. “How do you move forward when someone does not take full responsibility?

“You can only hope that (Cobb) realizes that it is 2021 now. Times have changed.”

The Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419) is available 24 hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress due to their residential school experience.

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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