Portage la Prairie RCMP investigate after hateful posters plastered on businesses

RCMP are investigating “offensive” posters that included a partial image of a swastika that were placed on storefront windows and vehicles in downtown Portage la Prairie.

The hateful posters, put up overnight Monday along Saskatchewan Avenue in the small city west of Winnipeg, also reference white nationalism and white power, RCMP said Monday.

Portage la Prairie Mayor Sharilyn Knox said such hateful actions aren’t welcome in her community.

“There’s no room for that type of thing in Portage la Prairie,” she said in an interview. “We, as a city council, condemn any form of racism or hate… we’re very disheartened to see something like that happen in our community.”

Arishya Aggarwal, whose family owns several downtown Portage businesses, including restaurant Taste of Spice, said their buildings were among those hit with the posters.

She said RCMP informed her family of the posters early Monday, after officers tore them down.

“It’s disappointing to see, but the response from the community, widely, was very nice,” she said.

Portage la Prairie residents were widely condemning the posters on local social media pages and elsewhere Monday morning, said Aggarwal, with some heading out to tear the posters down themselves.

“Everybody was already against this kind of messaging, everybody was already uniting together,” she said.

“The community is very strong here, so you should have seen the comments on the (social media) posts, or the people who were just talking about it — it was an excellent opportunity for all of us to come together, it really strengthened our community.”

Aggarwal said she thinks the hateful posters are the result of increasing racism and social division seen online, including vitriol directed at immigrants to Canada.

“A lot of the time, that stuff doesn’t exist in real life, it’s exaggerated and louder, intentionally, on social media,” she said. “People who are absorbing a lot of that narrative are now coming out and putting it in the community — so that’s sad to see.”

Progressive Conservative MLA Jeff Bereza had his constituency office on Saskatchewan Avenue vandalized with one of the posters.

“We’ve seen a rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia in Winnipeg and across Manitoba in recent months,” said Bereza in a statement.

“Hate has no place in our society. I always stand up against antisemitism, and Islamophobia and racism of any kind.”

The Portage RCMP detachment received its first call about the posters just after 8 a.m. Monday.

Mounties said people found guilty of public incitement of hatred or willful incitement of hatred can be sentenced to up to two years behind bars.

RCMP have asked anyone with information on the incidents to call the Portage detachment at 204-857-4445 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca