Penticton spent 18 months writing a unique racism bylaw to target just one person

Details are murky while City of Penticton staff and politicians remain mum, but it appears the city launched itself into a thorny racism and free speech regulation because of one single person. 

The city spent more than a year researching a unique bylaw that would allow Penticton bylaw officers to write tickets for public racism and discrimination.

While no one from the city would discuss the rationale behind the bylaw it announced in a press release earlier this month, the head of a local immigrant services organization says it was done at their request — because one person was shouting racial epithets at their clients for months. 

Cherry Fernandez, executive director of South Okanagan Immigrant and Community Services, is quite happy to have cooperation from the city now. 

That’s because when they first raised it, the city refused to recognize the issue and brushed it aside as a “parking problem.” Penticton mobilized quickly to get resident-only parking in the area, to the benefit of the person targeting visible minorities.

“This is an example of systemic racism,” Fernandez told iNFOnews.ca. “You have two groups coming with a complaint. Within one month you responded to the convenience, comfort and preference of one population. I’m bringing an issue about safety and nothing’s happening nearly a year later.”

According to Fernandez, it started in the spring of 2023 when one Van Horne Street resident, whom she did not name, began targeting people parking on that street. Fernandez said only non-white people were harassed, fielding racial slurs and told to “go back” to their countries.

She said the non-profit met multiple times with city officials, joined by RCMP at least once, to discuss the issue. For her it was a safety concern for immigrant clients and their staff, while the response from the city was “dismissive” and dealt with it as a parking dispute.

They thought the racial discrimination would cease once the parking issue was resolved, she said. It didn’t resolve it.

Fernandez now describes the road toward the newly proposed bylaw as a collaboration with city hall. She spoke at a Penticton city council meeting in February 2024 and, that day, council directed staff to craft a new bylaw against racism, emulating one that already exists in Calgary.

The results of that work came back to council earlier this month with staff describing it as a way to “set the standard” for behaviour in Penticton.

Staff at Penticton city hall spent a year-and-a-half crafting the new bylaw, seeking examples from cities in other provinces to create the bylaw, which would be a first of its kind in BC.

The City is still shopping its bylaw. It goes to a committee later this week for review before coming up for adoption.

iNFOnews.ca sought an interview with Mayor Julius Bloomfield and with city staff who crafted the bylaw, but those requests have been refused. The City responded with an emailed statement from Bloomfield that did not address any questions.

The bylaw was an unexpected addition to the so-called “Safe Public Spaces” bylaws and initiatives announced earlier this year to deal with “disorderly conduct.” Like many BC cities, Penticton has been dealing with a large homeless camp and conflicts with locals.  

Penticton RCMP did not respond to an inquiry about the bylaw. It remains unclear why police were unable to resolve the conflict.

Van Horne Street residents who spoke with iNFOnews.ca said street parking was frequently full with people working downtown because commuters didn’t have to pay. That changed in late 2023 when the city imposed resident-only parking permits.

They said they were not aware of any racist harassment targeting non-residents who parked there but iNFOnews.ca has also learned that the most outspoken resident has since moved, largely solving the entire problem.

If approved by city council, the bylaw would allow the city to impose fines up to $500 for discriminatory harassment, which could involve targeting a victim for their racial background, gender or sexual orientation, for example.

“This sends a clear statement that this is not something we’re willing to tolerate in our community, and it does a big thing to help people feel a bit more safe,” Fernandez said.