A B.C. group called Keep the RCMP in Surrey says it is filing a formal complaint with the National NewsMedia Council against the Surrey-based Indo-Canadian VOICE newspaper for an opinion piece it published June 14, 2022 referring to a 㽶Ƶֱdisgraceful rowdy demonstration㽶Ƶֱ by 㽶Ƶֱa group of old white people.㽶Ƶֱ
㽶ƵֱAbsolutely we㽶Ƶֱre going to make a formal complaint,㽶Ƶֱ said Paul Daynes, a spokesman for KTRIS. 㽶ƵֱWhat it does is it refers in a derogatory way to an identifiable group within our community which we think is totally inappropriate and wrong and if it was applied to any other community group they would have equal grounds for feeling equally outraged.㽶Ƶֱ
The article appeared under the headline, 㽶ƵֱME THINKS! CBC report on McCallum㽶Ƶֱs feet not being visible on video footage is very interesting.㽶Ƶֱ
The NNC is a media watchdog based in Toronto, comprised of 15 directors and was established in 2015 to 㽶Ƶֱpromote ethical practices within the news media industry.㽶Ƶֱ It is an amalgamation of former press councils in B.C., Atlantic Canada, Manitoba, and Ontario.
The sentence in the հ䷡㽶Ƶֱs piece the campaign is particularly concerned about reads: 㽶ƵֱThe disgraceful rowdy demonstration in Surrey City Council recently by a group of old white people supporting the RCMP vividly shows how low this group can stoop and just how desperate they are.㽶Ƶֱ
Rattan Mall, editor of the VOICE, said he wrote the opinion piece.
㽶ƵֱI㽶Ƶֱm just mentioning facts, that㽶Ƶֱs what the video showed. If they were brown people I would have written brown people. I don㽶Ƶֱt hesitate to write whatever it is. I mean when South Asians commit crimes I㽶Ƶֱm the first one to put up, 㽶ƵֱSouth Asian caught,㽶Ƶֱ㽶Ƶֱ Mall said.
㽶ƵֱI have no qualms about identifying them as South Asian or Vietnamese or white or whatever,㽶Ƶֱ he added. 㽶ƵֱIf it㽶Ƶֱs brown people I would have written that. I don㽶Ƶֱt hesitate to lash out at South Asians when they kind of misbehave or act like stupid guys.㽶Ƶֱ
㽶ƵֱI mean, if they㽶Ƶֱre white, they㽶Ƶֱre white, if they㽶Ƶֱre brown they㽶Ƶֱre brown.㽶Ƶֱ
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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