Therrien demands apology from Wright
Saint John, N.B., mayor also wants an apology for crossing border
Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien demanded an apology from Coun. Stephen Wright on Tuesday after he travelled to New Brunswick in May while non-essential travel into the province is restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Wright did not issue any public apology that The Examiner saw and he was unavailable for comment on Tuesday.
Wright told The Examiner on Friday he went to New Brunswick in May on a fact-finding mission: he wanted to see how restaurants were faring there, since they’ve been reopened earlier than in Ontario.
Therrien released a new statement demanding an apology from Wright on Tuesday.
“Coun. Stephen Wright’s trip outside the province was not endorsed by myself, city council or the city. He will not be reimbursed for any costs incurred as a result of the trip,” she wrote.
“Councillor Wright should apologize for the trip. As elected representatives, we are rightly expected to lead by example — especially during a public health emergency when we’re asking people to put their health and the health of the community first.”
Therrien was not the first to demand an apology. Saint John Mayor Don Darling told The Examiner in a Monday interview that he expected Wright to admit a mistake and apologize.
He said he wanted to hear remorse form Wright, and an apology to all New Brunswickers.
“I’m not hearing any of that,” Darling said.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs also spoke up on the matter, saying in a press conference on Sunday that a
“full investigation” had been launched by the province to find out what questions were asked of Wright before he was allowed past border checkpoints and what answers he supplied.
Wright told The Examiner on Monday he spent 10 days in New Brunswick, from May 14 to 23, but wouldn’t say where he stayed because it would breach another person’s privacy.
Meanwhile border restrictions have impeded many would-be travellers, including one man from Quebec City who was turned away when he wanted to cross into New Brunswick to attend his mother’s wake in April.
Barry McCullough spoke to The Examiner by phone on Tuesday about how he and his wife and toddler son made the three-hour trip from Quebec City to Edmundston, only to be turned away because they planned to go out in public to the visitation (rather than go straight into a 14-day isolation). McCullough said he he couldn’t imagine a compelling enough reason for Wright to have been allowed past the New Brunswick border.
“I can’t see that it would be more important than a son attending his mother’s funeral,” he said. “If that’s legitimate, my situation is certainly legitimate — or more so, in my humble opinion.”
All Peterborough city councillors were contacted this week on the matter: five had no comment (Dean Pappas, Andrew Beamer, Kemi Akapo, Gary Baldwin and Lesley Parnell). Three could not be reached for comment (Kim Zippel, Don Vassiliadis and Keith Riel).
Only Coun. Henry Clarke spoke, saying he’d tried contacting Therrien on Monday to find out whether the trip was official city business but got no response. Clarke said he was concerned about Wright travelling in a time of pandemic.
Social Development Minister Dorothy Shephard, the MLA for Saint John Lancaster, wrote in an email it was disappointing Wright would “undermine” New Brunswick’s travel restrictions.
“I’m sure an investigation will reveal the accurate reflection of the facts,” she wrote.