KITCHENER -- Under the umbrella of racial inequality, Wilmot Township’s mayor is apologizing for a recent social media post.
Mayor Les Armstrong had initially defended the post, which remained on his personal Facebook page until Wednesday night.
“I have been ignorant and am incredibly sorry for my action,” he said.
Reading from a prepared statement during Wednesday’s regional council meeting, Armstrong says the post was wrong.
“I know now that this was truly a significant error in judgement. I will never, in any way, want to diminish the discussions surrounding the importance of Black Lives Matter. Never,” he continued.
Earlier this week, Armstrong shared a link to a video on Facebook with the headline 'white lives matter. BLM exposed.’ Armstrong added the comment, “Another view. Interesting.”
Many people took exception to the post, including Gita Schuster Ashley who asked Armstrong to resign over it.
“Our community leaders have to be accountable for all overt racist actions, including microaggressions,” she said during Wednesday’s meeting.
Regional councillor Tom Galloway said if it wasn’t for Armstrong’s apology, he had planned to submit a formal complaint.
“I had discussions with council today and the clerks department and was considering a code of conduct complaint. I will put that in abeyance for the time being given the apology,” said Galloway.
“I accept full responsibility for what I have done,” Armstrong said.
“I don't expect forgiveness based on my words alone. I will show you that I’m serious and you can count on me to continue fighting hard for everyone.”
Wilmot's mayor says he's working with staff to see what he can do to create a platform for change.
