Public safety committee searching for new member after resignation

Prince George’s Standing Committee on Public Safety is looking for a new member.

At the start of the committee’s first meeting of 2025 on Tuesday, Jan. 21, Mayor Simon Yu announced that Robert Gagnon has resigned and the board is looking to fill the vacancy.

“He has been a great contributor to this committee and I personally will miss his presence," Yu said. “On a personal level, I will still look to (him) as an advisor on this particular file.”

After the meeting, Yu told The Citizen that it was his understanding that Gagnon had also resigned from Lheidli T’enneh First Nation council.

Gagnon is no longer listed on the chief and council page of the First Nation’s website.

As the committee is under the mayor’s control, he will have a say over who the new member is.

He asked those in attendance to suggest potential new members to him and said those interested in serving should reach out to him or his office to put their names forward.

Hopefully, Yu said, the committee will have a full membership once again by its next meeting.

By text message, Gagnon told The Citizen that he had resigned for personal reasons.

“The time that I spent on the safety committee was a time that a Iearned a great deal about the issues that are concerning to city residents and business owners,” Gagnon said.

“The safety committee has the best interests of these two groups at the forefront and their continued drive and determination to make the downtown area as safe and enjoyable as possible, and I believe always will be the foundation of what the safety committee is designed to accomplish.”

Gagnon also confirmed he resigned as a Lheidli T’enneh councillor effective Jan. 1.

A spokesperson for Lheidli T’enneh confirmed in a text message that chief and council “received a formal resignation from Mr. Gagnon.”

“At the next regularly scheduled chief and council meeting, his resignation was accepted unanimously by council,” they said.

The First Nation is scheduled to go to the polls to elect a new chief and council later this year.

The other members of the committee include Coun. Brian Skakun, Coun. Ron Polillo, Coun. Trudy Klassen, Miranda Seymour and John Zukowski. Though there is no longer a formal representative of Lheidli T’enneh council on the committee, Miranda Seymour is a member of the First Nation.

The committee was formed by the mayor last year, holding its first meeting on May 21, 2024. Its next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 18 at noon in the conference room on the second floor of Prince George City Hall.