By Greg Fry

Civic politics

Wife of Quesnel mayor condemned by council for circulating controversial book on residential schools

Mar 21, 2024 | 12:03 PM

QUESNEL — An emotional city council meeting in Quesnel Wednesday night.

This after it was discovered that Mayor Ron Paull’s wife Pat Morton has been circulating a book that implies cultural genocide did not occur at residential schools.

Mayor Ron Paull says he’s never even opened the book but has not condemned his wife’s actions and is instead urging everyone to respect and welcome each other’s views.

City Council Tony Goulet called the book “one sided” and traumatizing to read. His father is a residential school survivor and read the book after it was circulated to his wife recently.

“It is very, very disturbing,” he said. “I’m very appalled.” He said the actions of Paull’s wife have “hurt reconciliation efforts” in the city. He added her action’s came to him “as a shock.”

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Councillor Scott Elliott added that “this is disturbing that it’s happening in our community.”

The Lhtako Deno Nation wrote a letter to council expressing its disappointment as well. The First Nation said the book, entitled “Grave Error – How the Media Misled Us” makes “many harsh comments including “truth has been turned into a casualty.”

The Nation says that implies that “cultural genocide did not occur, and basically questions the existence of Indian Residential Schools.”

The letter went on to note that the Nation shouldn’t “have to defend the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the T’Kemlups te Secwepem’c First Nation and the Williams Lake First Nation (amongst others) that have been so severely castigated by the authors of the book.”

The Lhtako Dene Nation are asking that Mayor and Council reaffirm the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding between the City and themselves. They’ve also asked to have some of their Elders, who experienced Residential School attendance, to meet with the Mayor and Council to provide first-hand knowledge of the treatment they were subjected to and survived.

Mayor Ron Paull defended himself by listing some of the accomplishments made when it comes to reconciliation during his time on council. He said those include appointing the city’s first Indigenous Relations Liaison and voting unanimously in favour of the renaming of Ceal Tingley Park to Lhtako Dene Park when he was a councillor.