Allies and a District of North Vancouver councillor have joined forces to draft a pledge aiming to create a safer, more inclusive municipality.
On Monday, District of North Vancouver council endorsed an anti-hate pledge, a commitment to be a welcoming community where hate is not tolerated.
Coun. Catherine Pope brought the pledge to council after observing protesters on the Mountain Highway overpass last year, in addition to hearing concerns from the community and other evidence of hate on the North Shore.
“Hate in all its forms erodes the foundation of any strong community,” Pope said. “This anti-hate pledge gives us as municipal leaders the opportunity to say clearly and unequivocally hate has no home in the District of North Van.”
The pledge lists actions council and the mayor will promise to do, such as rejecting all forms of hate and discrimination including public or online messaging targeting people based on their race, age, family status, gender identity or expression, sex and sexual orientation, income, physical or mental disability or religion.
Under the pledge, mayor and council vow to promote equity, inclusion and intersectionality in leadership, advocate for education and public awareness to reduce hate-based situations along with a commitment to ongoing engagement with community members to build long-lasting strategies, the document states.
All councillors supported the motion, with some saying the pledge is vital as hate has been on the rise.
Last week, the province announced more than $734,000 to support the B.C. hate crimes unit led by the RCMP. The funding will help add five additional RCMP officers and one intelligence analyst, according to a B.C. Government news release.
Police reported hate crimes rose 23 per cent from 2022 to 2023 in B.C. In that period, the province said crimes motivated by race or ethnicity increased by 12 per cent, incidents related to sexual orientation jumped by 43 per cent and religious hate crimes rose by more than 50 per cent.
Coun. Herman Mah said he worries about the recent trends.
“These stats are a source of concern, and we need to address this situation,” Mah said. “I believe that council, by voluntarily taking this pledge, will show leadership in the district, and that we want people to know that the district is a welcoming place for all people who want to live in our society.”
Before the motion, community residents spoke out to support the pledge but also to share their own experiences with hate, including Stephanie Wilson who co-wrote the pledge with Pope.
Wilson spoke of the feelings of isolation that came after the arrival of the protesters on Mountain Highway.
“I found myself on an overpass in the District of North Vancouver every Thursday afternoon because a Freedom Convoy rally explicitly targeted trans and queer people,” she said. “Standing on an overpass listening to someone scream far-right talking points into a megaphone wasn't the hard part. The hard part was coming to terms with the silence. When someone is targeted by hate, silence becomes approval… When no one stands up to affirm that hate is wrong, you start to wonder if everyone else agrees with the hate.”
The North Vancouver activist said she hopes that the pledge will be a starting point for bigger conversations and actions, but also moving the community forward that values and welcomes everyone.
“This pledge simply asks leaders to use their voice and their platform to end the silence so that everyone knows that they belong, they are valued and that they are safe to live in, work in and visit North Vancouver,” she said.
Abby Luciano is the Indigenous and civic affairs reporter for the North Shore News. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
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