A Calgary Uber driver is speaking out about a disturbing encounter he recently had with a passenger.
It took place last month and video of the interaction has been shared to numerous social media platforms ,where it has been viewed tens of thousands of times since it was uploaded on Sunday.
The video starts innocently enough, showing Uber driver Mandeep Sehgal picking up a passenger outside of Calgary.
But just as Sehgal prepares to start driving the passenger asks Sehgal where he is from and says “don’t lie to me.”
Sehgal tells the passenger he was born in India then asks him why he’s being so judgemental.
Speaking to Global News about the video, Sehgal said “he started asking about my immigration status and in my mind I was thinking, ‘You booked the ride. I’m supposed to take you from point A to point B. Why you want to know my immigration status?'”
“Initially, I thought he was joking,” added Sehgal.
“But suddenly he went aggressive.”
In the video, the passenger responded by saying “I am a born-and-raised Calgarian.
“I am the white blood of the land. You are on my land. I am the blood of the land.”
After further yelling and swearing by the passenger, Sehgal pulled over and told him “you can get out here, on your land.”
The executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, Evan Balgord, said after watching the video, in his view the passenger’s comments “are incredibly racist.”
But Balgord said, despite that racist nature, it’s unlikely hate crime charges could be laid.
That’s why, said Balgord, so many incidents like this go unreported and don’t show up in police-reported hate crime statistics (and that) leads to the impression that incidents like this are a lot more rare than they really are.
Balgord says when he talks to people in communities that face this kind of hate-based harassment, “everybody has a story.”
A few days after the encounter, Sehgal got a message from Uber saying one of his passengers had complained about the video being uploaded to social media.
Uber said while drivers are permitted to have dash cams, “uploading dash cam recordings and/or live streaming is prohibited. Future reports describing the misuse of information may lead to the permanent deactivation of your account.”
However, after being contacted by Global News on Monday, Uber said upon further investigation the company has “been in touch with the driver, and have removed the rider from the platform.”
“Everyone deserves to feel safe, welcome, and respected when using Uber. Hate has no place in our society, and we do not tolerate discrimination”, said the statement from Uber.
Asked by Global News if Calgary police are investigating, CPS said in a statement it “is aware of the video circulating online showing a rideshare driver subjected to a hate-filled tirade,” and its “crime prevention team is investigating the incident and providing support and resources to the victim.”
The statement continues by saying “Hate has no place in our city. We recognize that many hate crimes go unreported and we urge all Calgarians to report any incidents of hate they witness.”
CPS says such incidents can be reported online at reporthate.ca.