By Dylana Milobar

New Kamloops Chamber leader responds to social media controversy

Mar 22, 2019 | 4:34 PM

KAMLOOPS — John Perks, the newly hired executive director of the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce, is clarifying the context around some social media posts that have stirred up controversy. Some of his posts can be interpreted to question the rights of minorities and climate change.  Others deal with controversial political opinions. 

The Chamber announced earlier this week Perks was hired to replace long-time executive director, Deb McClelland, who stepped down in 2018 for other pursuits. 

Following the announcement, previous posts made by Perks on his Facebook page began surfacing, raising questions about the background of the Chamber’s selection. 

Perks says he was shocked to learn the posts had gained notoriety in Kamloops and felt compelled to address the issue immediately. 

“People said ‘Well you can wait until you’re in Kamloops next week, and I said ‘no, no let’s talk about it,” Perks told CFJC Today.

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Addressing a quote shared from Bernie Sanders querying why President Donald Trump has not addressed climate change, and a response saying he also did not address unicorns, or other fictional things, Perks says that was not to say climate change isn’t real. 

“I posted a quote by Bernie Sanders on my Facebook page, basically saying why didn’t President Trump address climate change in a speech. And I pulled out and highlighted the radical, right-wing fundamental Christians who would say that’s not true. I,100 percent don’t believe that, and that’s why I called them out on social media.”

Another post shared was a quote from Winston Churchill saying, “When Muslims are in the minority they are very concerned with minority rights, when they are in the majority there are no minority rights.”

In response, Perks says he shared that with his past work experience in the middle-east in mind. 

“I’ve worked with women (who have suffered under) fundamental Islamic terrorist groups that publicly torture women, they beat women, women can’t vote. And that post was referring to that extreme category. I am close friends with many Muslims, I have partnered with Muslims in the business field in the past, and I in no way believe that reflects the whole Muslim faith or population.”

Perks also had a post on his profile referencing the migrant caravan headed to the southern United States border, as being staged by the media. 

“I was pointing out the media coverage over that Honduras crisis coming to the border by saying both parties on either side of the American political system took advantage of those women and children at risk.” He explains, “These are people that are destitute, that are desperate to find freedom and here we are leveraging it for political gain, and that’s wrong.”

While explaining context, Perks also expresses some regret in the things he shared, particularly a post referring to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “an idiot”.

“I don’t believe that he’s an idiot. I think he’s a smart, successful man. I may not agree with everything he does. I don’t agree with a lot of politicians and things that they do. I shared that post because I saw it and thought it was humourous. I think now, taking a step back, it’s not humourous, it wasn’t funny, and I regret sharing that post.”

Chamber President Joshua Knaak says the controversial statements do not paint a full picture of Perks.

“It’s pretty difficult to make an assessment about somebody from a few isolated posts that were made on social media with no real effort made to understand any context, no effort made to understand the entirety of the person,” Knaak says.  “From my perspective, I haven’t known John for very long, but I certainly know enough about him to know that some of the assessments that were made based on those posts, are certainly incorrect.”

Knaak says he can understand how people would see these posts and initially take offense with them, and acknowledges not everything shared to social media is perfect.

“My (own) social media these days is much more cautious because I know that people are looking at it, and things can be screenshotted, things can be taken out of context, and one has to protect against that.”

Perks agrees.

“I can understand putting myself in somebody else’s shoes. In no way did I try to hurt or damage people in the community. I’m all for building the community.” Perks stresses, “And at the same time I can see how some of my posts, seen by people who don’t know me, don’t know my heart, could be taken out of context, and so that’s why I want to set the record straight.”

Looking towards his future in Kamloops, Perks says he’s excited to work with the business community. 

“I want them to know I’m a strong community supporter, I have been all of my working career. I believe in supporting our local economy, I believe in working with every single individual regardless of their race, creed, or religion, and that’s what I want to do.”

Knaak says the Chamber still backs its hiring decision and is optimistic about his arrival.

“I think once people have an opportunity to meet John, to hear a little bit more about his story, which we shared in great detail in our press release, they’re going to understand that this is certainly not a guy who is aligned with any of the things that are being implied or being stated about him by the few people that latched on to those posts on social media.”