A 13-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the arson attack on the Chilliwack home of B.C.'s Lieutenant-Governor Steven Point.
The teen was charged with arson, break and enter, and theft when he appeared in a Chilliwack court Thursday afternoon.
The house was gutted by the fire, which occurred on the Skowkale First Nation reserve on Chilliwack River Road around 5 a.m. on Sunday morning.
RCMP Corporal Peter Thiessen says the boy is a member the First Nations community in the Chilliwack area and police were able to make the arrest largely because of the help of members of that community.
"It's sad, I think, to discover that youths are involved from a first nations community, but it's a reality we've grown to understand," said Point, when news of the arrest broke.
Point said he supported some kind of aboriginal restorative justice to be used in this case.
In an earlier interview with CTV British Columbia in Chilliwack on Monday, Point described his feelings on seeing the damage to the home he and his wife built.
"You try to think of yourself as someone who's not materialistic, but you know when it's your home and it's the things you put on the wall... You know it was tough to see. It's difficult," he said.
"The kids broke down and all that. We all did, I think."
The home was recently renovated and filled with artwork he got from friends, original pieces that cannot be replaced.
"Those are treasures for us, sad to see them affected like this," he said.
Point was sworn in as B.C.'s first aboriginal lieutenant-governor on Oct. 1, 2007.
Previously, he was the chief commissioner of the British Columbia Treaty Commission, and served as an elected Chief of the Skowkale First Nation for 15 years. He was also the tribal chair of the St�:lo Nation Government and chosen as grand chief.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's Julia Foy.
