Heiltsuk Nation lambasts Vancouver Police Board and chief after officers don't show for ceremony

Bella Bella, B.C. -

Numerous members of the Heiltsuk Nation expressed their anger and frustration directly to Vancouver Police Board members and high-ranking Vancouver Police Department officers, including Chief Const. Adam Palmer, at a ceremony in the First Nation's big house in Bella Bella on Monday night.

The visiting police officials were supposed to be in the community for an apology ceremony, but that could not take place as planned because the constables involved in handcuffing an Indigenous man and his then-12-year-old granddaughter did not make the trip.

"I'm having really bad anxiety right now," Maxwell Johnson said as he addressed community members and the police dignitaries.

Johnson and his granddaughter Tori-Anne were in Vancouver in December 2019 and set aside time on the trip to open a bank account for the girl at a Bank of Montreal branch on Dunsmuir Street.

Staff at the bank incorrectly thought the status cards the pair was using as ID were fraudulent and discreetly called 911.

The pair reported that, when VPD Consts. Canon Wong and Mitchel Tong arrived at the bank, they immediately marched them outside and handcuffed them on the busy sidewalk before asking them any questions about the situation.

The Heiltsuk Nation members filed a complaint against the police board with BC's Human Rights Tribunal and, last month, the board agreed to a settlement that included the in person apology in Bella Bella.

On Monday night, the Heiltsuk Nation left a pair of empty chairs with Tong and Wong's names on them and held what they called an uplifting ceremony for Johnson and Tori-Anne, rather than the previously planned apology ceremony.

"In order for us to move forward, we've got to do it together. In these unfortunate circumstances, we can't do that tonight for the reason that two people are absent," said Kelly Brown of the Heiltsuk Nation in fiery opening remarks. "That's got to be sorted out by you as individuals that have the authority and the responsibility for the Vancouver Police Department."

He then passed the microphone to Johnson who also expressed his profound disappointment that Wong and Tong were not there to take part in the ceremony so everyone involved could put the entire situation behind them.

"You know, what happened to us shouldn't have happened to us. We shouldn't have been taken out and handcuffed right out in the street where everybody could see us," he said as his voice cracked with emotion. "If you saw your grandchild being taken out and handcuffed out there, I don't think you would have liked it."

On behalf of the police board, vice-chair Faye Wightman offered a formal apology.

"The board does apologize for the lasting pain that Mr. Johnson, Tori-Anne, and their loved ones and the community have experienced as a result of this incident," she said. "Today we're here to move forward in a way that does not diminish the harm that you have been caused, but comes with a hope for a renewed strengthened relationship moving forward."

Community members and the visiting police officials then shared a meal in the big house before members of the police board and Palmer handed out gifts described as feast bowls to members of the Heiltsuk Tribal Council, hereditary chiefs and elders.

Palmer did not make any remarks to the community but shared a moment with Johnson at the end of the formal ceremony.

On the way out of the building, he would not stop to answer questions from the assembled media -- who instead had to shout questions to him as he walked briskly towards a dock where a boat was waiting to take him back to his hotel in the nearby community of Shearwater.

Asked if he thought his officers acted appropriately that day, Palmer refused to directly answer the question.

"There's been a complete Police Act review of that entire incident and the facts of the case are public record and very clear," he said.

Pressed to provide his personal opinion on the discredited actions of officers who handcuffed Johnson and Tori-Anne, he again failed to provide a direct answer.

"I told you that that case is concluded with the Police Act, and now we're moving forward. And that's what this ceremony was about," Palmer said.

If the apology ceremony had gone ahead as planned, Johsnon says he would have been able to move forward -- but in light of the absence of Wong and Tong, he can't do that yet.

"I really, really wish they did come so we could all have closure," he said. "That's part of our culture. We have to have closure. When we have closure, we're done. But because they didn't come we're not done yet."