Provincial posted Jun 4, 2020 @ 02:00pm by Dylan McCullough

Racist incident on Vancouver Island denounced by First Nation’s leaders

Leaders of the Tseshaht First Nations, the RCMP and the Mayor of Port Alberni have denounced a racist incident that occurred near the Vancouver Island community earlier this week.

On Tuesday, First Nation leader Cynthia Dick reported that a group of men in a white pickup entered the First Nation’s reserve, despite a no visitors order due to COVID-19, and proceeded to yell racial slurs and make “stereotypical Indian calls.”

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with Tseshaht and all First Nations people,” Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions said.

“In recent days, much of the world news has focused on the systemic racial divide, and our close-knit community is certainly not immune to these problems, but we have to be better. We are better."

In the video statement, Chief Councillor Dick said officers told her they should be able to identify the vehicle’s owner based on the photos and videos.

The chief councillor has also asked those who know anything about what happened to contact police.

The incident took place the night after several Port Alberni residents gathered at Millstone Park for a peaceful protest against racism, inspired by the many protests that have been taking place across Canada and the United States over the past few weeks.

If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.