‘Saddening, shocking’: Politicians condemn anti-Chinese rant at Montreal grocery store

*Warning: some details in this story (and attached video) may be disturbing to some readers*

An unidentified woman went on a tirade at a Montreal grocery store on Monday, directing her anger at a Chinese Montreal bystander as she blamed the COVID-19 pandemic on China.

The video captured by Ken Mak, who was the target of the anti-Chinese rant, was viewed several thousand times on social media.

The incident, which took place at an IGA on Nun’s Island, was condemned by several politicians, including Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante.

“The lady behind me approached me and asked me if I was Chinese, and I said “yes” and she ask me about more things about the coronavirus and how it came from China and I thought she was curious and wanted to have some exchange over this topic,” explained Mak.

Mak posted the video to his personal Facebook page Monday night.

“This pandemic has caused chaos in all our lives, and it is not acceptable to assault a specific minority for it,” he wrote in the video caption.

“I hope our society will be aware of these incidents and #stopasianshate. This video shall not be swept under the rug.”

Warning: Video contains sensitive subject matter and adult language

The woman, who is standing at the cash, can be seen in the video allegedly pointing at Mak, saying the 21 months of pandemic was “because of you Chinese people.”

She proceeds to give the middle finger to a person who intervenes and swears at him. She then calls people “losers” in the store, and claims she comes from a powerful family of lawyers in Montreal.

The two-minute video – filled with profanity – ends with the woman being escorted towards the exit of the IGA by what appears to be an employee.

Montreal police spokesperson Caroline Chèvrefils says the SPVM received a call from the store around 6 p.m. Monday, and officers ultimately helped remove the woman from the store.

“We all have been through the lockdowns, the curfews, and the hardships in Quebec together just like everyone else,” wrote Mak in his post. “All crisis ends, but until then we need to support (sic) each other, not blaming innocent people.”

In a statement, IGA said: “We are incredibly disheartened and upset by the customer’s disrespectful behaviour… at IGA, we denounce all forms of hate. This is never acceptable.”

“I tried to answer but as soon as I answer as soon as I opened my mouth she would cut me off where the anti-Asian speech where it’s all Asian peoples fault so at that point I told her the conversation is over I don’t want to talk to you anymore,” said Mak.

Quebec politicians reacted to the video on Wednesday.

Benoit Charrette, the minister responsible for the fight against racism, called the video “saddening, shocking and condemnable! Behaviour like this simply has no place in Quebec.”

Plante tweeted: “ I denounce the racist remarks of this lady, which are shocking and unacceptable. Anti-Asian racism has no place in Montreal, and this type of aggression should never be tolerated.”

The National Coalition of Canadians Against Anti-Asian Racism told CityNews incidents like those are happening more and more in public spaces amid the pandemic.

A Montreal police report found hate crimes and incidents against the Asian community saw a spike in 2020 when the pandemic began.

“Since 2020 there has been five times more hate crimes and incidents than the previous year, before the pandemic but we know with the data we have it’s just the tip of the iceberg. A lot of Asian victims don’t file a complaint,” explained Winston Chan, board member of the National Coalition of Canadians Against Anti-Asian Racism.

“There are many more incidents that happen just like this, like if the person doesn’t have the instincts to take out their phone and record a video or if its an older generation whose not as technologically able they just have to go home or walk away and feel like this is just life in Canada when it’s not we can do better than this,” added Mak.

“I myself am fed up with the pandemic like most people, but being fed up or having a bad day is not a good reason to do a racist rant against persons random persons you don’t even know,” said Chan”