Editor;
Open letter to Quesnel Mayor and Council
I am writing this open letter to voice my disappointment and displeasure at renaming Ceal Tingley Park.
I sat for two terms as an Alderman under Mayor Tingley and although we disagreed at times on projects or the direction the town was going, at no time did I feel Ceal had anything but the best of intentions of helping the then town of Quesnel to forge ahead.
Even when I replaced him as Mayor he was gracious and offered to help me in any way he could.
Should the council of the day be allowed to change the name of a memorial park without asking the public? While you are at it, why not change the name of LeBourdais Park and Alex Fraser Park as well. Why not change the name of Quesnel too?
I am not opposed to having a park with an Indigenous name, but why not build a new one in conjunction with the Indigenous government.
I feel you should have held a plebiscite along the October election and get the feeling of the electorate as to whether they were in favor of the name change, but that may have been too democratic for you as there is no guarantee you would get the result you wanted.
My family and I spent some of the best years of our lives in Quesnel, and although I have been gone many years, I still have deep feelings for Quesnel and its citizens.
In closing, I want to reiterate my deep disappointment in the action council took and who knows, this might turn into a plebiscite this fall.
John Panagrot
Former Alderman and Mayor of Quesnel
To my ex-teammates, GO ROOS GO
Read More: Ceal Tingley Park was renamed on National Indigenous Peoples Day
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