Quesnel mayor censured, banned from First Nation's land

The mayor of Quesnel, B.C., has been stripped of many of his duties and barred from entering land belong‐ ing to multiple First Na‐ tions in and around his community.

On Tuesday night, Ques‐ nel's city council voted unani‐ mously to censure Ron Paull and impose multiple restric‐ tions on his ability to repre‐ sent the city.

The decision is in re‐ sponse to reports Paull's wife has given out copies of a con‐ troversial book about resi‐ dential schools to people in the community and that Paull himself had offered the book to other elected offi‐ cials at a local government meeting.

In response, the Lhtako Dene, Nazko and Lhoosk'uz Dené First Nations have said they will refuse to work with Paull, who is also no longer welcome on land belonging to the Lhtako Dene.

The story thrust the com‐ munity of roughly 23,000 people, located about 400 kilometres north of Vancou‐ ver, into the national spot‐ light as a flash point in the ongoing conversation about residential schools and Canada's efforts at reconcilia‐ tion with Indigenous commu‐ nities.

But Paull says while he may have made an error in judgment, he has no plans to leave his position.

"I have four loves," he said at this week's meeting. "My wife Pat, my family and friends, my wonderful com‐ munity of Quesnel, and my faith .... I wholeheartedly in‐ tend on continuing giving back to my community."

WATCH | Mayor plans to stay on after being censured:

Paull will continue to serve as mayor, as there is no formal mechanism to force elected officials to re‐ sign. He will also continue to chair council meetings.

However, council has for‐ mally condemned his ac‐ tions, removed him from sev‐ eral committees, removed his travel budget and will not al‐ low him to act as their repre‐ sentative with First Nations or other external groups.

They have also asked him to issue a formal apology, something that he has so far not done.

Coun. Tony Goulet said the steps were necessary to restore Quesnel's relation‐ ship with First Nations.

"If we don't have a work‐ ing relationship with all In‐ digenous communities, we're gonna be in trouble," he said.

Other councillors ex‐ pressed concern they would not be able to successfully apply for grants or enter partnerships with other lev‐ els of government or contrac‐ tors without taking strong ac‐ tion.

"Our reputation interna‐ tionally is being damaged on a colossal scale," said Coun. Scott Elliott. "All the work that we've done to rebrand this city has been demolished."

Council voted to revisit the sanctions in 90 days.

In an interview with CBC News after the meeting, Lh‐ tako Dene band administra‐ tor Maynard Bara said his na‐ tion was pleased with coun‐ cil's decision and said from his perspective, "It's back to business as usual."

"It's great to see that city council did the right thing here and now we can move forward," said Bara, adding the past several weeks have been painful.

Quesnel has taken major steps in working with the Lh‐ tako Dene, starting with a 2015 agreement that formal‐ ly acknowledged the nation as partners upon whose land the city was built.

In the years since, it has taken other steps toward what it calls "true reconcilia‐ tion," which include restoring ownership of a downtown park to the First Nation and being the first city to officially co-host the B.C. Winter Games with an Indigenous community earlier this year.

Book given out by may‐ or's wife

Tuesday's decision came after several weeks of contro‐ versy that started at a council meeting held March 19, with a letter of concern from the Lhtako Dene First Nation.

According to the letter, a person related to a member of council - who Paull would reveal was his wife - had been giving out copies of a book titled Grave Error: How the Media Misled Us (and the Truth about Residential Schools).

The book is a series of es‐ says edited by C.P. Champion and Tom Flanagan, described by its publisher as challeng‐ ing several assertions made about the harms of residenti‐ al schools.

In publicity material for the book, publishers True North and Dorchester Books say statements that residen‐ tial schools traumatized In‐ digenous people across gen‐ erations and destroyed In‐ digenous languages and cul‐ ture are either "totally false or grossly exaggerated."

The book is particularly critical of media reports on the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation which, in 2021, announced preliminary find‐ ings of ground-penetrating radar work at the former Kamloops Residential School.

The nation has said they found anomalies that could be unmarked graves of chil‐ dren who attended the school, while clarifying that that possibility had yet to be confirmed.

WATCH | Learn about ground-penetrating radar:

However, the book points out many reports from media and other entities failed to include that context, which the authors say have helped shape a false public narrative of what happened at residential schools.

While some of the essays acknowledge abuse and harm to some children, oth‐ ers challenge the veracity of survivor's accounts as well as the belief that the residential school system amounted to cultural genocide in its at‐ tempt to assimilate Indige‐ nous people, as determined by the federally-appointed Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

That commission heard testimony from more than 6,000 attendees of residenti‐

al schools across the country, documenting stories of phys‐ ical, sexual and psychological abuse, harsh punishments and malnourishment.

The letter from the Lhtako Dene said, weighed against that testimony, the essays in Grave Error amount to "a slap in our people's collective faces" by denying or minimiz‐ ing the harms of residential schools that many of its members personally experi‐ enced and which are still felt within the community.

In response, Quesnel council, including Paull, voted to denounce the book and reaffirm their relationship with the Lhtako Dene.

Paull said at the meeting he had not personally read the book and that he does not always share the same opinions as his wife.

Controversy grows

However, that did not quell the backlash and on April 2 more than 200 people marched outside Quesnel city hall and called on the mayor to resign.

Inside, elders spoke of their own experiences at resi‐ dential schools while Lhtako Dene Chief Clifford Lebrun told council his nation could no longer work with the city until the matter was re‐ solved, a position reiterated by other First Nations in the region.

That notice led to this week's decision by council to formally distance themselves from the mayor.

WATCH | Lhtako elder addresses council:

Paull opened the discus‐ sion about the possibility of being censured with a state‐ ment, saying the anger to‐ ward him was "all based on a misunderstanding."

"I was accused of handing out and distributing the book," he said. "I have not read the book."

In a written statement to

CBC News, Cariboo Regional District Chair Margo Wagner said that in her recollection of events, "Mayor Paull had a copy of the book and asked me if I was interested in reading the book as it was an interesting read. I politely de‐ clined and said I was not in‐ terested and walked away from the conversation."

100 Mile House Mayor Maureen Pinkney gave a sim‐ ilar response in an interview with the Quesnel Cariboo Observer, in which she is quoted saying Paull "casually asked if I was familiar with the book and did I want to read it?"

Paull has not responded to interview requests from CBC News, but at the council meeting he said he was sim‐ ply trying to use the book as a talking point for discus‐ sions about what sort of liter‐ ature might or might not be allowed in local libraries.

But Coun. Laurey-Anne Roodenburg said the issue had moved beyond the book itself.

"I don't care if you read the book - I bought it online and I want my money back," she said.

"It's about leadership and what's transpired as a leader."

She and other councillors expressed disappointment that Paull's story around whether he had ever recom‐ mended the book had changed over the weeks, and questioned if he was being truthful.

Councillors also spoke about the amount of scrutiny the episode had placed on them under.

"It has taken a toll," said Goulet. "We're all getting cal‐ ls, we're getting emails."

Coun. Debra McKelvie said she had experienced multiple sleepless nights.

Lhtako Dene's Maynard Bara said he and Chief Clif‐ ford LeBrun had also been getting "hate mail" from peo‐ ple who disagreed with the decision from the First Na‐ tion and Quesnel's council.

Among those who have been critical is Grave Error editor and contributor Tom Flanagan, who wrote that what was happening in Ques‐ nel is similar to "totalitarian societies" accusing its mem‐ bers of "thought-crime," while fellow editor C.P. Cham‐ pion argued in a press re‐ lease that council is "pre‐ venting the truth from com‐ ing out."

But Goulet reiterated council never attempted to ban the book or prevent any‐ one from reading it.

"To me, denouncing was we weren't going to promote the book. We weren't going to talk about it. We were going to leave it at that."

Goulet and the rest of council expressed hope that Paull would eventually apolo‐ gize and his duties could be restored, but said that deci‐ sion would not be made without first consulting First Nations.