Wes Wes Y'all

In memorium: Wesley Mitchell

Jan 09, 2026

It’s hard to overstate the extent to which Wesley Mitchell was a consistent public figure in Prince George. Though he was best known as the co-founder of the University Hospital of Northern B.C. drummers, a group who gathered weekly in the hospital parking lot to support both healthcare workers and their patients, he truly seemed to be everywhere. I did not know him well, but as a reporter, he often tipped me off to gatherings outside the courthouse to support the families and victims of violence, generally Indigenous. He was also ever-present at MMIWG events, Orange Shirt days and celebrations, such as Canada Day.

He ran for city council in 2022, finishing ninth in a field that sees eight members elected. During that campaign he spoke openly of his own experience with homelessness and addiction and urged a compassionate approach to the interlocking crises that also included mental health and perceptions of public safety.

Perhaps less well known was some of his other work behind the scenes. As an example, he helped provide waste management for the Moccasin Flats encampment, serving both those who lived in the space and the surrounding neighbourhood. He was a staunch supporter of people experiencing trauma. As I mentioned, he was often a conduit between different parts of the community — I was often struck at the wide range of political persuasions with which he had a genuinely joyful relationship, focused on a shared sense of humanity and urging to take care of one another.

Over the Christmas break, I’ve visited the hospital nearly every day to be with a loved one recovering from a major medical event. There are no two ways about it, being in a hospital environment for an extended time is not a joyful event. Without debating their merits based on the tools and knowledge in place at the time, there is no doubt that being in that space during the height of public health restrictions, would have been magnitudes more isolating. But Wesley and the drummers he rallied showed up week after week to provide a sense of community, of connection, of hope — the same thing that he brought to countless other spaces. I was at the hospital last night when more than 500 of the people he had helped touch came together in the parking lot once again to drum and sing and cry and hug and laugh together for more than an hour, interspersed with chants of his nickname — Wes Wes Y’all.

I don’t know if you’ve been following the news, but it’s been a start to 2026. It’s a time where it can feel like divisions are stronger than connections, when the ability to see the human side of those we disagree with is falling apart. And let me be clear — Wesley took a stance on things. He showed up at rallies and spoke to issues that do not have universal support. But his approach was always one of community, or showing the humanity, of bringing people together. And in these dark days of winter, the sight of hundreds of people out in the cold, celebrating the life of a man whose mission was to bring them together, it goes a long ways.

The below is just a small selection of the many, many tributes from a huge cross-section of the community in Prince George and beyond.