'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
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh confirms his party will support the Liberals' federal budget
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will support the federal budget, ending any speculation that the party could pull out of its deal with the minority Liberal government.
Dental care program accepting claims for 1 million seniors
Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech says 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan.