A hard-working immigrant picking up a second job in an effort to get ahead in tough economic times. It sounds like the type of person that helped build this country into the great place it is today.
In this story, however, this hard-working immigrant, an Uber driver, isn’t being lauded for his work ethic, but rather he’s on the receiving end of a racist tirade. By now, many of you have seen the three-minute video of a passenger making increasingly racist remarks toward the driver, who eventually gets to his breaking point and orders him out of the vehicle.
Most of us wouldn’t have put up with the filth the passenger was spewing for as long as the driver, who was polite and tried his best to defuse the situation to no avail, but the moral of this story is that no one, regardless of ethnicity, should have to endure such loutish behaviour.
The incident, which took place in the Calgary area, is unfortunately just the latest in a string of racially-inspired hate that's been making news across this country. Whether it’s fueled by economic challenges, immigration levels or other factors, it’s simply not acceptable and should never be tolerated. That’s not how people in Canada treat one another.
There’s no doubt that a surge in immigration in recent years has led to cultural clashes and resulted in much finger pointing, behaviour that often finds support on social media, emboldening others to lash out. It's easy to affix blame for our ills, perceived or otherwise, but it’s far from that simple.
A multi-cultural society must also be a tolerant one, a population that embraces immigrants from all parts of the globe and models Canadian behaviour so they can both understand and replicate it.
Racist rants certainly aren’t part of that equation.
