City Councillor calls for apology from Northern View following weekend Fire Coverage

City Council Member Reid Skelton-Mover (second from left) has called
for an apology from the local newspaper after a controversial story from Sunday

Prince Rupert City Councillor Reid Skelton-Morven has become one of the latest members of the community to call for an apology from the publisher of the Prince Rupert Northern View newspaper.

That after a few first drafts of their story last night, which  left many members of the community outraged at the speculation posted by the paper to their website which had suggested a connection from Sunday's fire to protests related to the Wet'suwet'en dispute.

The City Councillor joins a chorus that has weighed in on the Northern View's Facebook page, in the case of Mr. Skelton-Morven, his comments were delivered through his Social Media platform of Facebook.

Mr.  Skelton-Morven who is an Indigenous resident of the community, made note of the piece which he states was mis-information.  Further observing as to  how it incited fear and  could be clearly spun off to ignite hatred and anger towards Indigenous peoples in the area.

So far, the reaction to the councillors commentary has seen 79 comments and 269 shares to propel it along the social media sphere today.

Adding to the growing discussion of the article for the day, was Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain who through his social media feed, shared a link to Mr. Skelton-Morven's Facebook page, as well as to add his personal thanks to the work of Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue on Sunday.

At the midpoint of Monday afternoon, the growing number of calls for an apology appear to have gone unheeded as of yet from the publication.

With the paper's current item of note on the Sunday Fire, that of the latest update to their story, which notes that the RCMP has determined that fire was "Definitely not related to the Wet'suwet'en at all."

Further observing that the speculation of such was "unfounded".

For more notes on the media in the Northwest see our archive page.