Monday evening a letter was presented to city council requesting that Councillor Duncan Wong apologize for sexist remarks made at a previous council meeting.
Councillor Wong responded to the letter with a prepared statement, saying that the issue should have been solely brought to him instead of to council, and that he wouldn’t be apologizing. Councillor Wong added that the letter was a defamation of his character.
Councillor Dennis Foley responded to his remarks, saying that process was followed and that the letter did go to him directly. He said that the letter, which was dated May 30th, had been sent to all councilors and that Councillor Wong did have the opportunity to deal with the matter privately.
During his response to the letter, Councillor Wong brought up another letter, which was not included in the agenda for the council meeting, in which the YWCA Thompson board of directors requested that Councillor Judy Kolada not give greetings from the City of Thompson at the Women of Distinction dinner since she did not object to Councillor Wong’s remarks. Wong said that Councillor Kolada deserved an apology more than anyone else in this matter.
Deputy Mayor Kathy Valentino responded to those comments, saying that what happened with the YWCA Women of Distinction event was not in the letter before council, and it had nothing to do with what was being discussed. The Deputy Mayor also added that sometimes it’s the right move just to say “sorry” and that the grandstanding needs to stop.
Councillor Wong responded to the latter comment, saying that he’s been given the opportunity to grandstand thanks to the letter coming before council.
Multiple times throughout the meeting, Mayor Dennis Fenske had to restore order, as members of the public were being obstructive and interrupting the meeting.
After the meeting, some of Councillor Wong’s supporters were outside of City Hall yelling at the father of the person who wrote the letter and at those who voiced displeasure with the councilors’ original remarks.
