The son of Senator Lynn Beyak is defending his mother following her removal from the Conservative Caucus for what the party says is her refusal to not remove “racist comments” concerning Indigenous people on her Parliamentary website.
Dryden’s Nick Beyak says he stands by his mothers actions.
He says his family is the most important thing to him and says the leadership of the Conservative party in handling the situation has been “absolutely disgraceful”.
Senator Lynn Beyak went public once again Monday, stressing party leader Andrew Scheer, nor a member of his staff, never approached her to ask for the removal of the comments, calling Scheer an inexperienced leader who doesn’t adequately consider other viewpoints.
Nick Beyak says his mother posted more than 100-letters of support on the Residential School system because she wanted to open up the dialogue on the plight of aboriginal people.
He stresses the current system isn’t working and the Senator’s primary focus is to improve the situation for Indigenous people in Canada.
Nick Beyak adds back in March, when this all started with the Senator, she raised the points to get the discussion started, stressing she was instantly labelled a racist.
He is challenging the public to find one racist comment that Senator Lynn Beyak has said about Indigenous people.
He stresses that he made the comments as a concerned family member and not a member of Council and reiterates that he and his family are not racist.
Councillor Mary Trist says she doesn’t agree with Nick Beyak going public in support of the Senator but notes the entire incident raises the fact that we need to conduct more research and education on the dark history of the Residential School system.
Trist is concerned with comments made that most Canadians agree with the Senator’s stance on the role Residential Schools played in our society.
She stresses the dialogue should always be open and we are better people when we take on more education on any topic.
Trist adds by asking questions and to interview survivors of Residential schools, it will be a small step in improving the lives of Indigenous people.
Councillor Roger Valley is also upset with the comments from Nick Beyak, stressing they wear their Councillor hat at all times and have to be careful of what they say in open and on social media, stressing Beyak’s comments have the potential of negative connotations on the image of Dryden.
He says it’s time for the City of Dryden to review its social media policy in order to avoid potential negative feedback in future cases.
The issue was raised at Monday night’s Council meeting, during the open Councillor comment portion of the agenda.
