A number of local residents took to social media last week after encountering racist posters tacked to the city’s power poles.
Police are investigating, but they are looking for help from the public in tracking down who is responsible.
Powell River resident Giovanni Spezzacatena posted to Facebook that he pulled down five posters, with an unwelcoming message to Chinese-Canadians, along Joyce Avenue. Karen Skadsheim said she discovered one while on her way home from the November 11 Remembrance Day ceremonies in Townsite. Posters have also found in Cranberry and along Marine Avenue. Sean Dees, Breakwater Books and Coffee owner said he pulled one down from the pole outside his shop and the police were notified.
All expressed their disgust and disappointment toward whoever is responsible.
Powell River RCMP officers have opened a file and an investigation on the posters.
Corporal Colin Cook said officers took down two posters with a similar unwelcoming message from outside local businesses during the first week of November.
Then officers deployed in Townsite for the Remembrance Day ceremonies encountered another poster there, he said.
Even though the posters were different, the message was the same, he added.
No laws have been broken by posting the signs, but the police are investigating what they consider to be harassment at this point, he said.
“Obviously it’s bordering on hate literature,” he said. “We have real concerns.”
There may not have been any blatant threats made, but some businesses owned by Asian-Canadians have also had notes slipped under their doors which carry similar messages.
Based on what he has read on social media, Cook said the police have not been notified about all the instances of posters being discovered and taken down.
He is encouraging anyone who encounters one of these posters to either take it to the police or report the location of it and let officers document and seize it.
“The more information we have,” said Cook, “the better we will be able to identify whoever it is who is responsible for doing this.”
