In bus stops along Victoria’s Douglas Street, someone pasted posters reading ‘Fix Canada First’.
Black Press Media staff were able to find the posters in five different bus stops between Hillside and Uptown Mall — at least what was left of them. Of the five posters found, four had been ripped and made almost illegible.
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The posters read: “Fix Canada First. No more refugees. Take care of Canadians first. We have our own homeless/seniors/vets & health care to fix first.”
Const. Matt Rutherford of the Victoria Police Department said they had not received reports of the posters.
“I haven’t heard of this poster before. I don’t think this meets the threshold of a hate crime,” Rutherford wrote in an email.
BC Transit communication manager Jonathon Dyck said he notified the City of Victoria about the posters. Local governments are responsible for the maintenance of bus stops and shelters, but Dyck said BC Transit will report and follow up with incidents.
“One of the big things we really value at BC Transit is inclusivity and accessibility to transit services,” Dyck said. “We don’t condone or accept any type of hate or any type of inappropriate messages at bus stops or anywhere on the transit journey. We want people to feel welcome.”
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@KeiliBartlettkeili.bartlett@blackpress.ca
