Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner has gone on record to categorically list that the gang and drug problem is South Asian Community’s problem and not a Surrey’s problem.Over this past year, after every shooting she continues to blame the community for bad parenting and gone as far as saying on record that once these kids get hurt due to gang violence, they should pay their own MSP bills.  She said this by calling a media conference. To add more to her admiration, she directly targeted the community’s moral and ethical contributions towards other fellow resident and said that the South Asian community is putting others at risk and that South Asian parents should hand over their kids to the police, give witness statements and evidence so that the RCMP can charge these young adults.

By Meera Gill

In April 2015, the Mayor of Surrey Linda Hepner, RCMP, School Board and CFSEU (Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit- highly specialized anti gang unit) hosted a forum where 700 plus community members attended to find solutions to deal with the ongoing shootings in Surrey. More than 80%(500 +) of these attendees were from the South Asian community.

A year later, April 2016, a similar forum was done for the same reason. Close to 120 people attended this forum and just a little over 50 members would have been from the South Asian background. We have had 33 shootings happen to date and this should have been a concern for the public. Then why the presence in this last forum went from 700 plus to like150?

Mayor Hepner has gone on record to categorically list that the gang and drug problem is South Asian Community’s problem and not a Surrey’s problem.Over this past year, after every shooting she continues to blame the community for bad parenting and gone as far as saying on record that once these kids get hurt due to gang violence, they should pay their own MSP bills.  She said this by calling a media conference. To add more to her admiration, she directly targeted the community’s moral and ethical contributions towards other fellow resident and said that the South Asian community is putting others at risk and that South Asian parents should hand over their kids to the police, give witness statements and evidence so that the RCMP can charge these young adults.

During the time the shootings had begun in April 2015, community at large,had faith in the government organizationsto provide answers, support and guidance.However, starting from April 2015 up until about a twoweek ago, Mayor Hepner has repeatedly made offensive remarks to blame the gang problem as a South Asian problem instead of a Surrey problem.

This mistrust that Mayor Hepner has created in the society has yielded the results already. The very community, on which she wasted so many sound bites to appeal to help the police, had decided not to engage in more of her disrespectful, demeaning and fact less rhetoric. NO SHOW was a clear message of their position.

Now, to give her a benefit of the doubt and review her performance since her election, one must ask if this racial profiling helped the mayor and RCMP during this past year in catching the gangsters, and in gathering evidence to put these criminals behind bar? The answer is NO again.

One wonders on what basis did she make the South Asian community exclusively responsible for these on going shootings in Surrey?

Her statement and that of RCMP was that there are less than 12 kids who are known to the police for criminal activities, and are responsible for guns and drugs violence in the city of Surrey. These 12 individualsapparently are said to be from the South Asian community. You all will be equally surprised as I was when the RCMP said that the first two arrests that were made, were not South Asian. Sodid she have any basis for making all those nasty media releases? Was it fair or even beneficial to label a community this way and creating a clear division in the society at large?

According to the results of the Canadian Police Survey on Youth Gangs posted on the website of Ministry of Public safety:

• Youth gangs are in Canada are active across the country in both large and small communities.
• The Survey done with police officers estimated that Canada has 434 youth gangs with about 7,000 members.
• Ontario has the highest number of youth gangs, with 216 youth gangs and 3,320 youth gang members. Saskatchewan is second (28 youth gangs and 1,315 members), followed by British Columbia (102 youth gangs and 1,027 members).     
• Furthermore, almost half (48%) of all youth gang members are under the age of 18. Most (39%) are between 16 and 18 years old
• The largest proportion of youth gang members are African Canadian (25%), followed by First Nations (21%) and Caucasian (18%).

Putting the results of her actions aside for now, I wonder as to how or why did Mayor Hepner forgot the role of this very community in building up Surrey? How did she disengage her thinking that this community has been financially, physically and emotionally contributing towards the social, political and governmental fabric of Surrey?

She forgot millions of dollars of donations that this community offered to medical institutions that serve all residents of Surrey. She also overlooked that every year from 100,000 to over 300,000 of this community members gather to celebrate Vasakhi and not a single incident is reported of violence or mischief. What does that tell her about parenting of this society?

Shifting the focus from her to the problem, I must add that there is no denial or confusion that just like other communities, South Asian youth of the Lower Main Land is involved in drug use and a small number in it in its distribution too.  Most of them use recreational drugs and a great majority are neither drug addicts nor gangstersas being portrayed by the Mayor.70,000 kids go to Surrey Schools each year and a major chunk of these kids belong to the South Asian Community. Thousands of these kids carry on to colleges and universities and taking on professional courses. So why would the 12 troubled kids become the face of this South Asian community?

There is also no denial or any confusion that parents play an extremely important role in brining up a child. Thousands of Surrey parents dedicate many hours each week taking their kids to sports activities, educational and volunteer programs.

When during an interview, I openly demanded on CBC that Mayor Hepner must apologize to the community; it was because her comments have been destroying the image and very harmony that the Surrey community has built over many decades. Not only should the South Asian community object but the entire society should demand that for the best future of the Surrey. It was interesting to see the impacts of Mayor Hepner’s divisive actions that soon CBC posted my interview, a slue of negative comments poured from the non-Asian community. Now did that worry you? It worried me.

To elaborate on my worries, can I also ask you to imagine the impact of such racially driven speech on the kids in schools, parents at sports fields and at work? Jordan Buna (a non-South Asian Ex gang member), who I will refer to later in the article, said that he was a troubled teen during his school years. After he left school, because of his same last name, his brother who was totally opposite to him was mistreated and judged by not only the students but also by the teachers. Are you worried now?

Do you think because of this propaganda a silent judgment can slowly start penetrating in people's mind about various communities? Can we afford to relive the dark history of the Komagata Maru against South Asians, Head tax against Chinese and dead and missing aboriginal women tragedies? They were all racially driven acts.

Here are some facts that all should consider reviewing before making any judgment call about this issue:

Based on these hard facts, shooting in Surrey are a small piece of a much bigger problem that Canada must attend face forward without targeting the community that do not even make to any list.If I can pull these facts from internetthen what did the Mayor do with all the resources she has to make a sound decision and rational media interview?

Furthermore, to disappoint the Mayor, I must say that it cannot be solved by good parenting only. Social and religious organizations must offer engaging opportunities; government mustprovide better social programs and RCMP should be funded properly, to play an active role in prevention.  People should work collaboratively to building a better society.

Although basis of Hate and divisive speech up until this form was not onlydistasteful but also unfounded, forum on the other hand was quite informative. It was inclusive, caring and responsible. During this forum I said I would have appealed to all my friends and acquaintances repeatedly if I had known it was going to be this different than what the RC respectful and beneficial.

I openly appealed to the chief of RCMP, CFESU and school board to please continue thisrefreshed and inclusive approach in media, as that will bring the community together to build safe neighborhood. Most interested and appreciated aspect of this forum was that every government official in this forum spoke like a parent and as community members.Jordan Buna, who was an ex-gang member, also spoke so well explaining his journey before, during and after his gang life. This sensitive and logical thought was most encouraging and completely opposite to all the previous renditions of the officials.

To conclude I hope that Mayor Hepner will not make any more mistakes in the future as if she will not stop, we will continue to object to all of her absurd comments with our equal, opposite and informative talks and rights.

To save future, one must act accordingly in present.

Meera Gill is with Our Global Village Charitable Foundation.