'Go back to Hong Kong!': Unhinged 'safe injection' site supporter yells racist rant at Richmond City Hall
Back-to-back protests at Richmond, British Columbia's City Hall were not enough to prevent council's motion to explore plans to set up a “safe consumption site” near Richmond General Hospital from passing.
The motion, brought forward by councillors Laura Gillanders and Kash Heed in an effort to explore a site that would allow for both drug testing and the “safe consumption” of drugs, passed yesterday by a vote of 7-2.
Prior to its passing, Richmond City Hall became the site of many fiery exchanges involving pushback against the city council. On Monday evening, the yells of both protesters holding signs with phrases against the injection site and counter-protesters in support of such a site could be heard both inside and outside the building.
A rabid safe injection site (SIS) advocate went on a racist rant during a protest opposing a since passed city motion to explore plans for a SIS in Richmond BC.
— Drea Humphrey - Prepping and Politics (@DreaHumphrey) February 14, 2024
More to come at https://t.co/RQ9VfrPu5W pic.twitter.com/6DboGUpWy8
During one shameful interaction published on the Neighbors of Richmond YouTube channel, a woman in support of a “safe injection site” can be seen engaging in a racist rant against an Asian man protesting.
“Go back to where you came from; you’re what’s wrong with Canada,” the lady can be heard screaming., “You don’t belong here. Go back to Hong Kong,” she continued.
Seemingly to drown out the interaction, nearby protesters begin to simultaneously chant “no drugs,” yet the woman can still be heard continuing to spew vitriol. “You’re all corrupt. The drugs come from you,” she yelled.
Things remained heated at times inside of the public hearing sessions for the motion, which ended up being extended to Tuesday night due to so many citizens signing up to voice their opinions.
Chants of “no drugs” following an impassioned plea from a Richmond resident, who begged city councillors not to add a “safe injection site” and to instead use tough love and other measures to help prevent drug use, were followed by a stern warning from the city’s mayor, Malcolm Brodie.
"No drugs, no drugs!"
— Drea Humphrey - Prepping and Politics (@DreaHumphrey) February 14, 2024
Richmond city mayor Brodie Malcolm shuts down citizens chants opposing motion to explore plans for a “safe consumption site.”
Link to read full story: https://t.co/ufY9absp9O pic.twitter.com/zYgZBuhlsV
“If you want to be part of this discussion and part of this decision, then you will respect the process,” the mayor chastised. "This is not some kind of theatre or a carnival. This is a very solemn occasion where we are making important discussions and decisions for the city," Brodie added, before claiming this was the first time during his political career he had personally witnessed such a reaction.
While some citizens who spoke were in support of the plans for the site, often citing family or friends who died from drug overdoses, the vast majority of the session’s speakers were in opposition to the motion.
One speaker chose to use her allotted five minutes to challenge a common claim used by harm-reduction advocates, which is that safe injection sites don’t have any deaths occur inside of them.
Richmond citizen calls out the woke drug abuse enabling language often used to support BC’s decision to decriminalize drugs in BC. https://t.co/RQ9VfrPu5W pic.twitter.com/AKG7VM3izq
— Drea Humphrey - Prepping and Politics (@DreaHumphrey) February 14, 2024
“What was not disclosed was that around injection sites, there have been consistent increases in overdose deaths, property crimes, littering of drug paraphernalia, and calls to the police,” said the woman. “I will not call that a success,” she added.
The woman further challenged the politically-correct narrative that because British Columbia has decriminalized hard drug use, it makes such consumption appropriate.
“Just because something is not illegal, it does not mean it’s responsible and does not mean it’s right. Adultery is not a criminal offence in Canada, but it is not something we encourage people to indulge in,” she stated. “We need to call it what it is, and I urge all levels of government and the media to not downplay drug abuse by calling it recreational.”
Dean Billings, a father from Richmond who previously ran for a school trustee position in the last municipal election, addressed a similar theme of putting political correctness ahead of common sense.
BOOM 🎤💥!
— Drea Humphrey - Prepping and Politics (@DreaHumphrey) February 14, 2024
Richmond citizen Dean Billings challenges city council to invest more into teaching kids drug prevention education in schools than they do for woke leftist initiatives like gender ideology if they care about the drug crisis. https://t.co/RQ9VfrPu5W pic.twitter.com/RJjFwivoXZ
“You should decide to become a national leader in the area of prevention education,” Billings said, addressing the city council directly. “Every report I’ve seen on the overdose crisis in B.C. is just dripping with leftist woke language about empathy and destigmatizing drug use. Evidently, this tolerant and inclusive approach is not well-suited to the new world of fentanyl and all the other drugs that will continue to come along,” he added.
Billings, who lives approximately 100 meters away from the proposed site, believes the city should focus more on drug prevention in the school system, especially in a province where the leading cause of death for 10-year-olds, like his daughter, is currently drug overdoses.
Dr. Bonnie Henry is still backing BC’s “safe supply” experiment despite part of that supply ending up being used by kids.
— Drea Humphrey - Prepping and Politics (@DreaHumphrey) February 2, 2024
The number one cause of death for a 10yr old in BC is a drug overdose.
*stat from Sept 2023 pic.twitter.com/9FNwDMPtsV
According to Billings, when weighing the investments the city makes into education initiatives, especially left-wing agenda items such as gender ideology, Indigenous land rights, and anti-racism, “it’s clear that anti-drug prevention is not a priority.”
In a recent press release, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix spoke in support of so-called safe injection sites while acknowledging the debate over them. “The evidence is that they make a difference in communities; the evidence is they make communities safer,” said Dix.
Richmond, meanwhile, reminded the public in a statement that, “Neither the City of Richmond nor Council can actually open or operate a supervised consumption site,” noting it must instead rely on the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.
“It will be up to VCH to decide whether such a site is in the interests of public health and safety and develop an application to Health Canada accordingly,” despite the motion being passed.
Even so, concerns over the now-passed motion continue.
“Watching the motion pass was both predictable and incredibly frustrating,” wrote Billings in a statement post-hearing to Rebel News.
Health Minister Adrian Dix stands by “safe injection sites.”
— Drea Humphrey - Prepping and Politics (@DreaHumphrey) February 14, 2024
Should we expect anything different from BC’s NDP government? https://t.co/Gi9Wj4LxWc pic.twitter.com/1khjBT5dok
“Governments want us to live in dense cities, but they expect us to cohabit with violent drug users. It’s incredibly demoralizing watching this process and knowing that we’re going to continue in the same direction.”
Billings says he’s decided to write a children's book series that focuses on drug-related tragedies to help raise preventative awareness. “Unfortunately, our society is at a point where we need that type of content.”
A petition that came out ahead of the meetings, entitled “Stop the Safe Drug Consumption Site in Richmond, BC,” continues to gain signatories and has garnered over 20,000 signatures to date.
If you share the concerns of those opposed to this politically-correct, enabling approach to addressing our overdose crises, let our government officials know it’s time for change by signing and sharing our petition at FixOurCities.com.
Drea Humphrey
B.C. Bureau Chief
Based in British Columbia, Drea Humphrey reports on Western Canada for Rebel News. Drea’s reporting is not afraid to challenge political correctness, or ask the tough questions that mainstream media tends to avoid.