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City of Williams Lake to nominate Williams Lake First Nation chief for BC reconciliation award

Mayor Surinderpal Rathor said lots of people recommended Kukpi7 Willie Sellars

A request by the mayor of Williams Lake to nominate Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars for a 2023 BC Reconciliation Award has been endorsed by city council.

“Information about the awards came to the office recently and I was sharing it to see who would be a worthy person to be nominated,” Surinderpal Rathor said during the regular council meeting Tuesday, Jan. 10. “Lots of people mentioned Kykpi7 Sellars.”

Coun. Michael Moses said he strongly agreed.

“It would be an honour for council to nominate him,” Moses said.

Council voted unanimously in favour of the motion.

The BC Reconciliation Awards are presented by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of B.C. and the BC Achievement Foundation.

They recognize individuals, groups and organizations who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, integrity, respect and commitment to furthering reconciliation or inspired others to continue reconciliation efforts.

Tk’emlups te Secwépemc and the City of Kamloops were recipients of one of six 2022 BC Reconciliation Awards.

Sellars was first elected as a band councillor at the age of 24 in 2008.

After serving 10 years he was elected chief in 2018 and again in 2022.

He is a father, a published author of two children’s books and a goalie for the Williams Lake Stampeders.

At an Orange Shirt Day flag raising ceremony in front of city hall on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Williams Lake, Sellars

said ceremonies like it were changing the narrative.

“It’s about education, it’s about bringing people together,” Sellars said.

Nomination forms for the BC Reconciliation Awards are available on the BC Achievement Foundation website, bcachievement.com.

The closing date for nominations is Jan. 20, 2023.

READ MORE: Ceremony, food and horse racing all part of Orange Shirt Day in Williams Lake



monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com

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Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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