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Chappell said Semiahmoo leaders reached out to the B.C. government before the police board was created, given that the First Nation would be impacted by the policing transition in Surrey.
“And then once the board was beginning, I was approached by the province to submit an application,” he said.
He sees his role on the board as representing not only the Semiahmoo First Nation, but also other Indigenous people in Surrey.
And he said his upbringing as an Indigenous person and even as the son of a Hells Angel, “has given me a very open worldview as to people. And you know, as we move forward with policing transition, as a police board member I think it’s very important to have that very open view to human beings, not affiliations, not race. It’s important that we as a board are inclusive.”
Asked if he agreed with law enforcement agencies and some Canadian courts that the Hells Angels is a criminal organization, Chappell said: “I can’t speak to what they are now. I don’t know.”
“I have no opinion on what the Hells Angels are now.”
Chappell spoke of his own early life challenges. He said his father “was a lifelong biker” when he married Chappell’s late mother.
“The early ’90s were very pivotal in my life. My mother passed from alcoholism,” he said. “My dad left the club. And I was initiated in ’94 into our very spiritual, very cultural Coast Salish ceremonies.”
He moved away from Semiahmoo “to learn, to grow, to have different experiences and a different life.”
“There were a lot of issues here in Semiahmoo growing up. There was poverty, there was addiction, suicides — it’s changed a lot. And I think that’s given me strength to be able to come back into leadership and really have that perspective that I want something different for future generations.”
kbolan@postmedia.com
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