The Richmond, B.C. community is outraged after some racist flyers showed up in residents’ mailboxes this week.
The posters read “Step aside, whitey! The Chinese are taking over! So you can now enjoy the ‘privilege’ of being marginalized in the community your forefathers built, have neighbours who refuse to speak your language, and not be able to afford a home!”
It then asks people to join the alt-right movement and visit two websites which promote Donald Trump, white supremacy, nationalism and other ideologies.
“I was shocked, to be honest,” said Rebecca Van Der Hijde, a Steveston resident who received the flyer.
“I grew up here in a multi-racial city, in a multi-racial country. I married a multi-racial man, and we have multi-racial kids. I was disheartened and sad that this was happening.”
Van Der Hijde said she’s heard about more encounters like this in the U.S. and in Canada recently.
Canada hasn’t been immune to some of the similar hate crimes seen down south.
A swastika and racial slur were spray-painted on a Jewish community leader’s home in Ottawa this week. On Thursday, a Regina resident found pro-KKK visuals painted on his fence.
Also this week, a racist altercation was filmed on a Toronto streetcar with one passenger telling another to “Go back to your f—ing country.”
Very similar posters were found in Toronto recently.
READ MORE: Edmonton police’s Hate Crimes unit investigates ongoing distribution of anti-Islamic flyers
The signs have a bold headline that reads “Hey, WHITE PERSON” and ask, “wondering why only white countries have to become ‘multicultural’?” and “figuring out that diversity only means less white people?’”
They also called for those with similar thinking to join the “alt-right” political movement on several Canadian and American websites.
Toronto City Councillor Janet Davis said, “I’m quite worried that the Donald Trump election has legitimized this kind of ultra right-wing viewpoint and encouraged these kinds of expressions of hate.”
Richmond’s mayor says the sentiments expressed on the flyer don’t represent the viewpoints of most people in the city.
“We’re a really diverse city, and we’re proud of that diversity… It’s unacceptable. It does not represent our thoughts or our values as a city.”
NDP leader John Horgan also spoke out against the posters, saying he was “angered and saddened” by the reports.
“I hope that I speak for people of every political stripe in British Columbia when I say there is no room for these hateful acts in British Columbia,” he added.
Richmond RCMP are investigating the flyers as a form of hate literature.
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