OHSWEKEN — Six Nations of the Grand River elected leadership issued a public apology to Steve Williams, Six Nations Police Commissioner and are backtracking on a call for his resignation.
On June 24, SNGREC sent a notice to media and published a public statement on their social media accounts — calling for the immediate resignation of the Police Commissioner.
“We want to ensure accountability and transparency and make it clear that there can be no conflict of interest, or perceived or otherwise in such important roles,” said the statement.
“As we move forward, it is important that we have the trust of the community that we will make difficult decisions in order to develop and build stronger services in our community.”
Williams said he was stunned by the public call for his resignation and said there was no reason given by the elected council explaining why he should resign.
On August 12 SNGREC issued a public apology to Williams saying, “The Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council sincerely apologizes to Steve Williams for publicly calling for his resignation as Six Nations Police Commission Chair.
Mr. Williams is a well-respected member of our community, with a long and diverse record of service to the community, including as a former Elected Chief.
The Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council values Mr. Williams’s abundance of experience, knowledge and commitment to serving the community’s needs and interests.
In particular, we look forward to working closely and collaboratively with Mr. Williams and his colleagues on the Police Commission as we embark together on a governance review of the Six Nations Police Service in order to better meet the community’s policing needs.
In that spirit of collaboration, the Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council has agreed to donate $10,000.00 in Mr. Williams’s name to a charitable organization of his choice.”
Members of the Six Nations community openly criticized the situation on the SNGREC Facebook page, saying the public call for Williams resignation was irresponsible and has now resulted in community money being spent on legal fees and apology donations.