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Racism played role in assaults: probe

Racism played role in assaults: probe

Georgina

By: Joe Fantauzzi

A probe into harassment and assaults against Asian-Canadian anglers at Lake Simcoe last year has confirmed racism played a role.

The provincial human rights commission report was released in Markham Tuesday.

“These incidents have had a broad impact on the Asian-Canadian community and also on the communities where they took place,” chief commissioner Barbara Hall said. “Among the impacts was a feeling of fear when fishing and feelings of not being welcome.”

Avvy Go, director of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, noted “While it’s great to see a number of institutions in the report have reacted in a very quick and decisive manner to condemn attacks and incidents, there are still some people who refuse to even acknowledge racism exists, let alone taking steps to eliminate it.”

York Regional Police have laid charges in five out of six reported incidents directed at anglers, Chief Armand La Barge said.

An undercover investigation at Lake Simcoe involved officers in plain clothes along the shore, he said.

“Within hours of initiating this project, the officers were taunted with comments by passing motorists. Comments such as: ‘Go home, you’re not welcome here’,” Chief La Barge said. “Such incidents of hate have no place in this or in any community in this country.”

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