The woman appearing in a video circulating on social media – where she made racists remarks at Richmond City Hall earlier this week – has expressed her regret for what she said.
The woman was at city hall on Monday evening as hundreds of people came out to oppose a motion to explore setting up a supervised consumption site in Richmond. (The Richmond News has chosen to withhold her name.)
In the foyer, as people held signs and chanted “No drugs, no drugs,” emotions were running high.
This was when the woman was captured on video claiming China was responsible for tainted drugs and telling those she was arguing with to return to Hong Kong.
She wrote to the Richmond News saying she regretted what she said.
“My reaction was wrong,” she said.
The woman suffered from a drug addiction when she was in her teens, and she has been in recovery since 2012, she told the News.
She claimed people in the crowd were suggesting drug addicts should just die (this was not captured on video), and this “infuriated” her and caused her to react.
“This is not what Canadians do: we bind together to support others instead of fighting to tear each other down.”
She added there was a “large group of extremely misinformed and fear-driven people” in the lobby of city hall “who were cruel and angry, swarming myself and another advocate.”
"I am absolutely not racist, I do not hate Chinese or any Asian culture. I am not a hateful person," she said. "My reaction was incredibly wrong. There’s no excuse to tell anyone to go back to where they came from. I allowed my hurt to speak for me."
The woman said she was at city hall to be a "voice for those dying in the shadows."
She added her "heart was broken to see that so many citizens of Richmond can be so hateful and so cruel and so unfortunately misinformed."
"I hope these members of society never need to bury a loved one or friend because of preventable toxic supply and lack of treatment resources in this community. I’ve lost too many to count."
'Racism has no place in our society': Chak Au
Coun. Chak Au, who opposed the motion to look into setting up a supervised consumption site in Richmond, expressed his “deep concern” over the video.
While he acknowledged it only provides a limited perspective, “it has revealed the troubling nature of the subject at hand.”
What he found disturbing were phrases such as “you don’t belong here” and “the drugs come from you” and called them “inappropriate," "biased" and "racist.”
“Racism has no place in our society, and it is disheartening to witness such behaviour,” Au said in an email to the News.
“This incident serves as a stark reminder that racism can be deeply ingrained and may manifest even in individuals who may otherwise appear kind, especially in tense or stressful situations.”
Au is calling on the RCMP to investigate and “hold those responsible accountable for their actions.”
Richmond RCMP told the News they were aware of the video circulating on social media “in which racist comments can be heard made by a woman.”
“While Richmond RCMP condemns this hate incident, based on observations made by our officers who were present at the protest, no criminal offence was committed,” said Richmond RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Adriana O’Malley.
“While individuals have the right to protest in a peaceful and lawful manner, anyone engaging in alleged criminal code offences will be investigated and face potential arrest,” she added.
Au said it's "crucial" not to frame opposition to a supervised consumption site as an "ethnic issue."
“People from diverse backgrounds hold varying opinions on the proposal, and it is unfair and detrimental to inject racism into the debate. Such actions are not only unwarranted but also harmful and dangerous.”
Woman recovers from addiction in Richmond
In a separate letter, the woman tells the story of her recovery in Richmond from heroin and alcohol addiction at the age of 19.
She arrived in Richmond in November 2012 with “nothing more than a small suitcase and garbage bag.”
She said she had no interest in coming to Richmond.
“Unbeknownst to me, what I was about to receive on that sunny Friday afternoon was much more than just how to remain abstinent,” she said.
Over the next 10 months, she was “supported in healing deep-seated trauma, emotional scars and was shown how to live life one day at a time without the need to medicate myself.”
“Had I not received the offer to attend a rehabilitation centre in Richmond, be offered continued supports as I moved out into the community, I know without a doubt that today I would not be alive,” the woman explained. “That I would just be another number in your statistics of lives lost to toxic drugs.”
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