Pargat Singh is worried about the rise in online hate directed toward the Indian community in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. He hopes the town’s council will be able to help make changes. (John Gaudi/CBC)
Members of Happy Valley-Goose Bay’s Indian community are worried after a hateful post and xenophobic comments recently filled a community Facebook page.
A member of the Facebook group, which allows anonymous posts, shared a picture of a man in a car and accused him of trying to lure children. The post spurred xenophobic comments accusing people from other countries of threatening the town. However, members of the South Asian community say the picture shows a youth-care worker supervising a child in his care.
Pargat Singh, who owns the Dairy Queen restaurant in the community, joined a few dozen people who came to town hall Monday in the hopes of speaking to Mayor George Andrews about the issue.
Singh says his family is nervous about being out in the open because of the comments.
“We are worried about the image,” said Singh. “The people are trying to make us look bad.
“We got the same blood inside and I think we should respect each and every one.… We are not the bad people.”
Singh says he has done a lot in the community, including running his business and buying homes, to make it his home. He said he wanted to speak to the mayor to make him aware of the hatred.
“If we continuously get that kind of hate from the community where we’re living, because there’s a lot of foreign workers working in the businesses, nobody will stay here,” said Singh.
New messaging needed, says mayor
Andrews says he is saddened by the comments made online but he’s not surprised, as negative commentary is common on social media.
“When I see comments like, you know, that some people should go back to their country and things like that, it upsets me,” said Andrews.
George Andrews, mayor of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, says he is saddened by the hateful posts made on social media. (CBC)
He said he spoke with the Association for New Canadians and the town’s Indian community to discuss messaging or programming that the city can use to discourage negative comments.
“There’s always the few folks that make commentary like that, that look bad on our community,” he said. “I think we can work together collectively to try and curb that.”
Andrews said it’s not a new issue for the town’s council, as they have dealt with the ugly side of social media before. He said he has contacted the administrators of some Facebook groups to make changes to what kinds of posts are allowed.
The problem, he says, comes from people being allowed to make anonymous comments.
“With the ability to anonymously post, nobody has to be held accountable,” he said.
Andrews said the town council can work toward creating a more accepting environment but they can’t control what people post online.
However, Andrews said, he is going to bring the issue to the town’s protective services committee and then hopefully draft a statement with the council.
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