B.C. racism helpline has received about 600 calls, attorney general says
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/03/2025 (233 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
British Columbia Attorney General Niki Sharma says the province’s racist-incident hotline has received about 600 calls since its launch less than a year ago.
Sharma says the calls resulted in about 1,600 incidents being referred to support agencies, with most reports coming from urban centres, although there’s been an uptick in calls from rural areas in the first three months of this year.
Sharma says it’s hoped that nobody would ever have to use the helpline, set up last May, but that’s not the “reality out there in the province.”
She says the number of calls is on par with California, which has a similar resource, but a much larger population.
Sharma says she’s “comforted” knowing people who report racism are getting support they need after doing so, and says she wants “people to know that this helpline is out there for them.”
The Ministry of the Attorney General says calls came from adults, seniors and children as young as sixth grade.
It says most incidents occurred “at the workplace, in interactions with service providers, in a public space, at home or around neighbours.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2025.