Phil Switalski was taken aback by encountering racist and anti-Semitic graffiti while walking his dog in Steinbach. Switalski frequents L.A. Barkman Park with his dog, Indy, and stumbled upon the offensive graffiti on a park sidewalk one Tuesday morning. Promptly reporting the incident to city hall, the graffiti was subsequently removed.
Simultaneously, the Steinbach RCMP initiated an investigation into a racist election banner displayed on a highway overpass north of Ste. Anne, located just north of Steinbach. Switalski, who recently relocated from Toronto to Steinbach, expressed concern over the troubling presence of both the graffiti and the banner.
“It’s worrisome, honestly,” Switalski remarked during an interview at the park the following afternoon. “You think it’s a small town, everyone’s happy and gets along together, but there’s undertones.”
The RCMP acted swiftly to take down the banner from the Highway 12 overpass above the Trans-Canada Highway. The banner’s message, “Steinbach votes white not brown,” referencing the upcoming municipal election on Oct. 28, included the name of a white nationalist group, which CBC News opted not to disclose.
Greg Carlos, a city council candidate who emigrated from the Philippines and has resided in Steinbach for 21 years, expressed shock at the banner’s message. While mentioning that he has not encountered racism during his time in the southeastern city, Carlos now harbors concerns for his safety and that of other minority groups.
Carlos praised the supportive stance of current council members and the reassurances he received through numerous phone calls and messages, affirming that such sentiments do not represent Steinbach. “We just have to respect each other,” he emphasized. “We are all human beings. We have to treat each other right.”
Another candidate, Mitesh Kumar, shared his apprehension upon seeing photos of the banner online, expressing worries about his family’s safety. Kumar highlighted his belief that residents will base their votes on candidates’ proposed solutions rather than their race.
“The main concern which I see in that sign is more about coming from a sort of an organized group,” Kumar conveyed to CBC News on Tuesday.
An anti-racist scholar based in Hamilton, Ont., Ameil Joseph, raised concerns over the rise of white nationalist groups in Canada, some more extreme than others. Joseph labeled the appearance of the banner as a “worrying development” and criticized the inadequate attention given to racist incidents during election periods.
“The discourse of some of these groups wields a violent and dangerous premise,” Joseph remarked during a Zoom interview. “This is the idea that they’re somehow being taken over and that people need to fight back. Fight is the language, and that is inherently violent.”
Carlos, maintaining a positive outlook, expressed hope that the individual responsible for the banner was not a part of the local community. “I know from the bottom of my heart — I know Steinbach’s not like that,” he concluded.