B.C. launches new racist incident hotline

British Columbia launched a new toll-free helpline on Thursday for residents who experience or witness a racist incident.

The helpline, a collaboration between the B.C. government and non-profit United Way, aims to connect callers with culturally appropriate support services and help them file police reports. It will also help the province collect data about where and when racist incidents happen.

"When [people] experience racism, they don't know where to go or what to do," B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said. "It's a way for an individual that's experienced a traumatic thing to know that there's a community that is there across this province that's there to support them."

The province first announced the hotline last November. It also offered community groups up to $10,000 in financial support to combat hate-motivated violence. 

The province has allocated $2.7 million toward the helpline.

It will be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on weekdays, and will take voicemails outside of those hours. 

Culturally-relevant support

Sharma said callers to the hotline might be referred to groups like Resilience B.C., a network of organizations dedicated to anti-racist advocacy and support.

One member of the network is MOSAIC, a non-profit that assists newcomers to Canada. Hugo Velazquez, the organization's director of family and settlement services, said the helpline will give newcomers a new way to share their experiences.

"It's a reality that racism is part of many of their journeys," Velazquez said. "Most of the time they're not able to voice it out or if they do, they're not heard. When they do want to do it, there's not very many channels."

Velazquez said language can be a barrier for newcomers seeking support. The new helpline, Sharma said, will offer service in about 240 languages to help them reach the support they need after a racist incident. 

Sharma added hotline operators may also offer guidance on how to file police reports, so people who have experienced a racist incident won't have to relive a traumatic event multiple times. 

'A great first step'

Ezra Shanken, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, said the helpline is a "great first step" toward addressing racist incidents in the province.

"So many hate crimes go unreported, and we need people to feel comfortable reporting those hate crimes," Shanken said. "This is a way of creating that mechanism for them to do so."

He said he hoped the helpline would also help address antisemitic incidents, and support members of the Jewish community. 

In a press release, United Way said local organizations can apply to be part of the helpline's referral database and for funding to deliver services. It said it aims to partner with organizations that offer services including counselling, peer support programs and anti-racist education. 

Sharma said the helpline will also collect anonymous data on where racist incidents occur, what groups they're targeting and why they're happening. 

"If a certain city is experiencing a spike in racist incidents, then we will know that there is an issue there that we need to address," Sharma said. "It's going to help us, as a government, operate in a way we've never been able to before."

Velazquez hopes the data will inform policy that protects people.

"A racist action against a person is the first way to deter that person from thinking that they belong," he said.

The helpline can be reached by dialling 1-833-457-5463.