The suspect lives in a native community in the Chilliwack area where Steven Point – the province's first lieutenant-governor of native origin – lived for more than 30 years and where he and his family raised four children.
RCMP Corporal Peter Thiessen, announcing the arrest on Thursday, would not be more specific about where the boy is from.
The suspect, who appeared in court Thursday, is facing charges of arson, breaking and entering, and theft.
“The motive, I can tell you, was not politically driven,” Cpl. Thiessen said.
“Certainly, this 13-year-old boy was aware whose residence it was, but it's not totally clear on what the motive was to bring him to break into the home and allegedly set it on fire.”
Mr. Point's home in Chilliwack was heavily damaged last Sunday in the blaze, which left the exterior largely intact, but the inside beyond repair.
At the time of the fire, Mr. Point and his wife were at their official residence in Victoria.
“[The arrest] was clearly a result of the first nations community stepping up and providing us with a lot of information that allowed us to follow up and bring us to the point of securing an arrest, and unfortunately having to lay charges against a 13-year-old boy who obviously has got some issues and hopefully is going to get some support,” Cpl. Thiessen said.
At a news conference in Chilliwack, Mr. Point said the case is unfortunate.
“It's sad, I think, to discover that young persons, youth, are involved from our first nations' community, but it's a reality we have grown to understand and to accept.”
Mr. Point became Lieutenant-Governor in October, 2007. The Chilliwack native was an elected chief of the Skowkale First Nation for 15 years and a tribal chair of the Sto:lo Nation government. The former Provincial Court judge has also worked as a criminal lawyer.