Mayor apologizes for sharing residential schools post — but says he's 'annoyed' First Nation made issue public

The mayor of Williams Lake, B.C., has said he is sorry for sharing an online post claiming there was an "other side" to residential schools, but in an interview Wednesday he expressed annoyance with the local First Nation for making the issue public.

Mayor Walt Cobb apologized first during a council meeting Tuesday, days after the chief of the Williams Lake First Nation called for his resignation. He said he reshared the post to his private Facebook page.

"I never anticipated or intended to offend or make light of the residential schools — and for those I offended, I apologize and I'm seriously sorry, very, very, sorry," Cobb said.

In an interview with CBC on Wednesday, the mayor reiterated his apology but said he was "annoyed" with the nation for taking the issue to the city and the media rather than raising it with him personally, since it was on his private page.

"This article was on my private site — [on] which I post jokes, I post a lot of things — but it's not on my 'Mayor Walt Cobb' site. So there is a difference ... but as was pointed out last night by one of the council members, I don't have a private life. So, it is what is is. I did my apologies and I am seriously sorry," Cobb said on CBC's Daybreak Kamloops.

"What really annoyed me most is we had an agreement with the Williams Lake First Nation ... that if we had differences on anything, that we would not be doing it in the media. I just found that this was a little ..." he said, trailing off.

"We could've probably solved a lot of problems, solved a lot of heartbreak, if the decision hadn't had been made to go to the press prior to even contacting me.

"Anyway, it is what it is ... hopefully, we can move on."

Chief Willie Sellars spoke on Daybreak Kamloops immediately after Cobb's interview ended and said the mayor's comments weren't a surprise.

"It is expected that he take the stance that he did," Sellars said.

"We felt that that was a very backhanded apology last night. It lacked substance and sincerity, and again we hear it in his interview this morning, blaming the Williams Lake First Nation for getting him into this uncomfortable situation. That is very unfortunate to hear."

Cobb said Wednesday he will not be resigning and still plans to run for re-election next year.

The post he shared claimed there were positive aspects of residential schools but that young Indigenous people "just want to be victims" seeking money, and that most survivors had "forgiven." It claimed to have been written by someone with Indigenous family members.

Cobb said Wednesday he shared the post after it was forwarded by several contacts because "he felt that there was a need for people to know what was being said out there."