‘Racist’ attitudes prompt Lorje to quit community board
Former city councillor Pat Lorje says “racist” attitudes prompted her resignation from the board of the Montgomery Place Community Association.
On Wednesday, Lorje sent an email notifying the board of her resignation over its opposition to a proposed preschool for Indigenous children planned for 11th Street West in the Montgomery Place neighbourhood.
Lorje — who opposed the 11th Street West location for the preschool, but not elsewhere in the neighbourhood — said she developed “grave concern” during and after a public information meeting on Oct. 11.
A followup board meeting on Nov. 2 convinced her to resign, she stated in the resignation email.
“In my opinion, these activities, and the attitudes displayed by some of the people at the special board meeting were racist in nature,” Lorje wrote. “I do not wish to be associated with this behaviour. I believe the negative values being promoted by some of the current Montgomery Place Community Association board have brought shame and disregard upon this community.”
Lorje said she did not want to elaborate on the email. The former councillor for Ward 2, which includes Montgomery Place, said last week that she intended to resign, but did not cite racism as the reason. Lorje joined the community association board about a year ago and became secretary this fall.
The Saskatoon Tribal Council has applied for approval to convert a home on 11th Street West in order to operate a preschool for Indigenous children four days a week.
The community association wrote a letter to the City of Saskatoon to state its opposition to the preschool. The issue attracted more than 100 people to the information meeting hosted by the city on Oct. 11.
A community meeting organized by the community association for Nov. 7 was cancelled. The city is now planning a second information meeting about the preschool.
The community association has repeatedly declined to comment on the issue. The Starphoenix attempted to contact the people who were sent Lorje’s resignation email, including board president Barb Biddle and vice-president Jim Mcallister.
Biddle refused to speak again Wednesday.
Another board member, Margie Tucker, told The Starphoenix last week that she also intended to resign from the board after the Nov. 2 board meeting. She declined to say what happened.
Attempts were also made to contact the Saskatoon Tribal Council on Wednesday.
Before her defeat in the 2016 election, Lorje was one of the longest-serving city councillors in Saskatoon history at 22 years. She also served three terms as a Saskatoon MLA.