Springfield mayor plans public apology for municipality councillor’s ‘hurtful comments’

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This article was published 15/08/2023 (836 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A rural mayor is publicly apologizing for a municipality councillor’s comments that the Manitoba Assembly of Chiefs called “disturbingly tokenized.”

RM of Springfield Mayor Patrick Therrien said he would deliver an apology at a council meeting Tuesday evening, echoing a previously issued statement that attempted to distance the community from remarks made by Ward 2 Coun. Andy Kuczynski.

“The RM of Springfield does not share in the views expressed by this member of council, nor does it condone racism or discrimination of any kind,” that statement reads, in part.

During a council meeting earlier this month Kuczynski publicly expressed concerns a new personal-care home in his community would become home to Indigenous people from northern Manitoba.

Following an Aug. 8 public presentation to council about the proposed facility, Kuczynski questioned whether the beds would be for local residents, or whether they would be available to anyone in the province.

“If there are senior citizens and people that need assisted living, or whatever, some place up north, they gonna bring them here, because I see truth and reconciliation, so I know what that means. They gonna bring lots of people from, probably native people, here to this community. At this point we don’t have it, but it’s gonna happen. You’re not gonna say that we not going to accept these people,” Kuczynski said, according to audio of the meeting posted by the RM.

After being told the proposed care home would be built for residents within the Interlake-Eastern health region so that they can stay close to home, Kuczynski said he wanted to see local residents using it.

“If we have this facility here, it’s gonna be available, majority of people gonna be from this area, you know, that’s what it should be,” he said.

No one at the meeting expressed any concerns with the racial aspect of Kuczynski’s comments, according to the audio. In an emailed statement, he apologized for his choice of words.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs wrote to Therrien, urging the mayor to take action to denounce the comments.

“These hurtful comments hamper the progressive strides of the principles towards inclusivity and understanding but also reveal a disturbingly tokenized understanding of the profound truth and reconciliation process,” AMC said in a news release earlier this week.

Kuczynski said he didn’t mean to be disrespectful.

“It was important to clear up any misunderstanding that rooms would not be reserved only for residents of Springfield. I should have used Indigenous or First Nations persons in my question. I did not in any way mean to be disrespectful. I apologize for that,” he stated in an email.

“I have zero concern about people from any background coming to Springfield. I myself am an immigrant and I would welcome everyone just as I have been welcomed to Manitoba. I only wanted to clarify that it will be up to the Health Authority to decide who will come to live in the care home and I will be proud to serve as their Councillor if the project is completed within my term. I want to be clear that I am not prejudiced towards any person or any culture. Again, I am sorry for the hurt and disrespect caused by my words. That certainly was not my intention.”

Kuczynski’s question came after a presentation by the Oakbank-Springfield Kinsmen Seniors’ Complex Inc. about the proposal, pending provincial government approval, to construct the facility. The presentation referenced the organization’s attempt to create a proposal that includes values mentioned in Manitoba’s seniors strategy, such as truth and reconciliation principles and a space within the personal-care home for cultural and religious activities.

The community was one of six invited to submit proposals to the province as part of the government’s pledge to construct 1,000 additional personal-care beds. There are only 40 such beds in Springfield, and the wait time can be two to three years, council was told. Meanwhile, seniors in need of a care-home bed are being sent out of town. The proposal would add 96 beds.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com