BC Human Rights Commission outlines racism and discrimination in Chetwynd

CHETWYND, B.C. – Racism and discrimination against women and minority groups such as Indigenous people are prevalent in Chetwynd, according to the BC Human Rights Commission.

The government agency has put out a report focused on the district, painting a picture of a community fraught with intergenerational trauma caused by colonialism.

According to the report, which includes stories of Indigenous residents feeling unwelcome and unsafe, 26 per cent of Chetwynd’s population is Indigenous.

“I went through lots, like I grew up in a residential home. I grew up in day schooling. I got put down because I was Native. I got put down because I was a woman. I got put down because I wasn’t the right colour,” one person told the Human Rights Commission.

Beyond the impact the residential school system had on people and families, other Indigenous residents describe a mistrust of the RCMP and police officers in general.

Many say they are both over and under-policed, with officers not responding to violations of their rights or their calls for justice as they would for non-Indigenous people and not providing Indigenous victims of gender-based violence with Victims Services.

One Indigenous parent told the Human Rights Commission that their son was once arrested while a white peer was allowed to walk free for the exact same incident.

“He went to the college for a little while, but then he met some friends,” they said. “They had some firecrackers … and put [them] in his backpack.”

“They took the powder out, put it in a bottle or something. Next thing you know, my son is being handcuffed out in the parking lot because they thought he was building a bomb. But the other kid, the white boy … nothing happened to him.”

Other residents described discrimination in the education system, saying the first time they experienced racism was in school.

Many said they felt educators had lower expectations of Indigenous students, saying teachers would emphasize “simply passing classes rather than excelling in them,” affecting their confidence in class.

Residents also say discrimination and hate come through in everyday interactions in local businesses and in casual conversation.

According to the report, some residents want to boycott businesses with discriminatory staff, but it can be difficult in a small community with limited business competition like Chetwynd.

People from the local 2SLGBTQIA+ community also described experiencing hate, despite recent efforts from the district’s government to improve inclusivity.

A rainbow sidewalk, meant to commemorate Pride Month, was defaced in 2023, the report says, and people taking part in the community’s 2023 Pride Walk had rocks thrown at them by high school students.

Many Filipino residents also struggle in Chetwynd, according to the report. 

Filipino people make up the largest ethnic minority group in the district, and many of them say they’re discriminated against for their English-speaking skills and have trouble finding high-paying jobs.

Women also described being sexually harassed by employers, with one saying she was fired for the shape of her body.

The report found that Chetwynd’s “boom and bust” economy, relying heavily on industries like logging and coal mining, has led to a wildly fluctuating unemployment rate.

That’s made human rights issues worse, it claims, while also increasing rates of substance abuse and affecting residents’ mental health.

The report was one of four released this week as part of a multi-year project to assess the state of human rights across the province. 

The BC Human Rights Commission consulted with 39 people in making the report through 17 interviews and four focus groups. 

View the full report below: