Several high-profile bands have pulled out of Surrey’s upcoming Canada Day celebration amid calls for the city to take stronger action against racism.
Headliners Said the Whale, The Beaches and Mother Mother lead singer Ryan Guldemond said Thursday they would not participate in the event, citing an online petition demanding the city to make a public statement committing to anti-racism.
“We’ve heard nothing back.”
Mother Mother also took to social media to say Guldemond would not perform.
“The City of Surrey’s leaders have not publicly committed to dismantling racism and have been unwilling to engage in a dialogue with the organizers of the petition,” wrote the band on its Facebook page.
More than 3,500 people have signed the petition, which states that more than 60 per cent of Surrey’s population is Black, Indigenous or people of colour.
“Currently, we’re in the midst of the largest civil rights movement of our generation,” wrote petition creator Ezeadi Patrick U Onukwulu, CEO of the African Heritage Festival of Music and Dance.
“Unlike many other Canadian cities this past week (Vancouver, Richmond, Toronto), our hometown of Surrey has yet to make a public statement committing to anti-racism in our city.”
The petition calls on Surrey to acknowledge the existence of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism in the city, and that civic institutions have tacitly perpetuated systemic racism.
It also calls on the city to publicize the percentage of executive leadership positions held by people of colour, and to commit to actively dismantling systemic racism.
Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum issued a statement late Thursday that didn’t mention the Canada Day event, but stated “there is no place for racism, discrimination, or intolerance” in the city.
“Surrey is unequivocally strengthened by our diversity. Our city is like a fabric and the threads that keep that fabric together are the different cultures that we have and the diverse people that come together to work with one another,” wrote McCallum.
“Despite the gains we have made, racism against Black, Indigenous, Asian and people of all creeds, colour and sexual orientation has not been eradicated. I can assure you that we will continue to condemn and eliminate all acts of hate and discrimination in our city.”
Surrey’s Canada Day event for 2020 will not be held in person, due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Instead, the city is moving the event online, with live streamed music and a virtual fireworks display.