'The time for talk is over': community groups back motion for more concrete action to fight anti-Asian racism
A coalition of community groups is backing a motion from several city councillors to go beyond denouncing anti-Asian racism in Montreal.
They say the time for talk is over, and the city needs to do more as Montreal police data shows anti-Asian hate crimes rose since the start of the pandemic.
"Covid has brought out the haters. It's challenged every fundamental assumption we have about Canadian values," said Montreal city councillor Marvin Rotrand.
A motion from Rotrand supported by dozens of community groups and several other councillors will be debated by council next week. It calls for the commissioner to meet with community groups without delay, for Montreal and the STM to release tangible measures to address hate crimes, and to officially recognize May as Asian Heritage Month.
The motion focuses solely on anti-Asian racism, but is endorsed by Jewish, Muslim and Black community groups, in a year where all have reported a rise in hate incidents.
It comes one year after another motion was adopted unanimously to denounce anti-Asian racism, after several incidents were reported on public transit and in the streets, including one Korean man being stabbed in NDG last year.
"We have been involved actively in getting the motion through city council to call on the City of Montreal to act and act firmly," said Fo Niemi, executive director for the Montreal-based Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations.
Since then, council has voted to beef up Montreal police’s hate crime unit, and appointed the city's first-ever Commissioner for the Fight Against Racism, but getting a meeting with her appears to be a challenge.
"Commissioner Bochra Manai has been in office for six months. We have not heard from her and we are not aware of any major Asian group that has," said Minda Massone of the Federation of Filipino Canadian Association of Quebec.
Bryant Chang, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Montreal, said he’s heard a lot of talk about taking action, but said he has yet to see any action.
"As of today, we have not seen anything concrete to deal with hate crimes," he said. "We hear a lot of speeches, we hear a lot of Facebook posts, but not much else. The time for talk is over."
A spokesperson for Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said in a statement the city is “more than ever committed to fighting racism and discrimination against Montrealers of Asian origin.”
"We are already well into action to combat this problem on several fronts," the statement read.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.