WL City Councillor Rathor arrested/charged

In what can only be described a 'shocking day' for most within the City and that of the Rathor family -- Seven term WL City Councillor Surinderpal Rathor was placed under arrest and charged with 'Obstruction of Justice'.  It should be noted that the Community Charter does not prevent Councillor Rathor from continuing to serve as a Williams Lake City Councillor while this charge winds its' way through the BC Provincial Court

In a statement that was posted on his 'Councillor Surinderpal Rathor' Facebook page, he says:

I am very troubled and sadden by today’s events, as is my family. I am taking this investigation very seriously and that’s all I can say at this time as it's before the court. Hope I’ll be able to say more in the future! Thank you.

As you can imagine -- the media has been all over this story given it is not often that a sitting local elected official (Mayor, Councillor, RD Director or School District Trustee) is charged with an offence by the RCMP.  Here are links to some media stories:

a) WL Tribune -- here
b) Welcome to Williams Lake - here
c) Globe and Mail - here
d) Vancouver Sun - here

For myself - Receiving this news at lunch today was akin to being kicked in the stomach as Councillor Rathor has been like a father figure to me, but like Councillor Rathor, I'm confident when the entire truth comes out, he will be found acquitted

In the meantime - Councillor Rathor, I expect, will continue to do the job that he was elected to do -- represent the community to the best of his ability/skill until November of 2014

-- SBF