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RACISM Councillor asks MP to amend anti-hate bill

TheresaMcManus

tmcmanus@newwestrecord.ca

A symbol that’s widely associated with white supremacy has a far different meaning for many people who consider it a symbol of well-being.

On Feb. 14, NewWest city council considered a request from New Westminster-Burnaby MP Peter Julian to support his private member’s bill, which would prevent anyone from selling and displaying symbols that promote hatred and violence. Under Bill C-229, symbols that would be banned include swastikas and other Nazi emblems, Ku Klux Klan symbols and Confederate flags.

Coun. Chinu Das said she supports the bill but recommended council ask Julian to tweak the bill to ensure the word “Nazi” appears before “swastika” each time it’s used in the bill. Das noted Julian’s motion is being put forward with the goal of being respectful and welcoming to all and addressing the increasing number of racist incidents that have occurred during the pandemic.

“The fact is, the swastika was co-opted by Hitler and made into a hatred symbol,” she said. “But if you really look at the word, the word swastika comes from the Sanskrit word svastika. Svastika means well-being. So there is two sides to this word – there is one that is interpreted as a hatred symbol, and swastika, in three major religions – Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism – looks at it in terms of well-being.”

If the goal is to be inclusive and respectful, Das said consideration needs to be given to the fact that many people still use this symbol in a positive way and interpret the word in a different way than the Nazis.

She noted the swastika symbol is sometimes seen in doorways and entranceways to homes and is displayed on auspicious days such as birthdays and weddings as a way of welcoming people and hoping for their well-being.

“I know I talked about Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, but it’s not just the eastern cultures. If you really look into the origins of the swastika symbol, it goes back into the western culture as well. There’s a lot of documentation around it. In fact, the oldest artifact found shows the swastika symbol is 15,000 years old,” Das said. “So, for someone in history to corrupt it and use it for a short period and then it gets synonymous with hatred is a sad commentary on our society.”

Das said she fully supports Julian’s bill but asked that it be slightly changed to ensure that the motion references “Nazi swastika” instead of “swastika.”

“We are trying to do the right thing here, but also to do the right thing by members of this community who may be Hindus, Buddhists or Jains,” she said. “It does not mean hatred to them.”

Das said she doesn’t want the original intent of what a swastika was or still means to some people to be lost.

“I know it may seem trivial to all of you who probably don’t have the history that I have, but it does mean a lot to me that this term is also both respected for what it was originally and what it needs to be,” she said.

Mayor Jonathan Cote suggested the city’s letter to Julian include an explanation of the reason for council’s request to add “Nazi” before “swastika” in his bill.

“I wasn’t actually aware myself personally of that history with that term,” he said. “I do appreciate you raising that. I do think it is important to add to this discussion.”

Coun. Jaimie McEvoy said there’s been a habit of people appropriating and using existing symbols in ways that are different than their original meanings. He said it’s been difficult to see images of people flying of Nazi and Confederate flags on the lawns of Parliament in Ottawa in recent weeks.

“There is no place in Canada for bringing your Nazi flag to Parliament and flying it on the lawn,” he said.

“So, I think that given what’s happened in the last couple of weeks, this is especially timely.”

Chinu Das Councillor

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Hospital staff get special thank you

When Royal Columbian Hospital staff arrived at work recently, they were greeted with a littleValentine’s Day surprise: posters and hearts along the entrance walkway.

The posters – boasting messages such as “Thank you health-care workers,” “Thanks for the love” and “Believe in science” – were one neighbour’s way of responding to the truck convoys and anti-vaccine-mandate protests that have sprung up over the past couple of weeks.

“We just wanted these health-care workers to know that we’re thinking about them,” said MeaghenTaylor-Reid. “We feel slightly helpless as to what we can do to help, outside of getting vaccinated, wearing our masks and things.”

Taylor-Reid and her seven-year-old daughter, Nora, decided to take on the art project along with two friends of Nora’s –Katelyn, who’s in the same Grade 1 class as Nora at Skwo:wech Elementary School, and her older sister Kalina, in Grade 3.

Taylor-Reid provided the printing in the form of big bubble letters, and the girls got to work with an array of brightly coloured paints to fill them in.

“The kids were all over it,” Taylor-Reid said. “That energy was just contagious for them.”

Living just a block away from the hospital, the Sapperton resident says she’s always conscious of the hard work that goes on within its walls 24-7.

“Because we live right here, we hear the ambulances and the helicopters,” she said. “We always think, ‘That could be any of us, at any time.’”

Since – along withValentine’s Day - this is also Random Acts of Kindness Week, Taylor-Reid thought the timing would be perfect. Her original plan to stealthily place the decorations without being spotted didn’t pan out, since too many workers caught them in the act.

ButTaylor-Reid was happy to see those workers get some joy out of the moment.

“Everybody walking by, I could tell had at least a little smile,” she said.

She’s hoping that other folks in the neighbourhood will stop by to perform their own act of kindness by sharing the display on social media and posting it with their own thanks to health-care workers. – Julie MacLellan

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