A Winnipeg dad wants to identify the people who hurled racial slurs at him twice this summer — including once while he was with his two young daughters — and he wants them to understand how hurtful such actions are.

"I was just immediately stunned," said Carey Lai. "I even got kind of scared, because that's happening right outside my house, where my family will be playing, [having] friends over, being part of the community."

Lai was born in Hong Kong and moved to Winnipeg when he was five years old. He owns two pharmacies in the city and his family recently built a home in Bridgwater Trails, where both incidents occurred.

Lai said a group of people in their late teens or early 20s shouted a racial slur at him and his family while they were at this community fountain in Bridgwater Trails. (CBC) The first took place over a month ago at a community fountain in the area, Lai said.

He and his family had just finished celebrating his eldest daughter's birthday and were enjoying the fountain when four people got into a vehicle and drove past them, slowing down to yell a racial slur out the window.

Lai said he was appalled by the slur, but was even more upset when his six-year-old daughter looked up at him and asked what it meant.

"At that moment as a parent, you just realize, well, what do you say? It gave us a very valuable experience to be able to explain to our daughter, both our daughters, this is not a very nice thing to say and they're just not being very nice," he said.

Lai said the individuals were two males and two females who appeared to be in their late teens or early 20s. They were in a dark Chevrolet Cruze LS, he said.

On Sunday, Lai was walking his dog when he saw the same vehicle. This time, he was carrying his dog into his home as the car slowed down and the occupants yelled another racial remark.

"I tried to brush off after the first incident, thinking, you know, that kids will be kids or … they didn't know better," Lai said.

"But to have the same group of individuals coming by, and now it just seems like it's just escalating because they were driving slower as they exit the street, almost prompting a response from me."

Lai reported the incidents to police and posted a photo of the vehicle on social media in hopes of identifying the individuals responsible.

Not illegal, but could amount to harassment

Winnipeg police Const. Tammy Skrabek said calling somebody racist names or yelling racial slurs isn't considered criminal, but if the behaviour continues, it could be classified as criminal harassment.

If you're a victim of that kind of behaviour, Skrabek said you can call police and report it so they can keep track of incidents.

"By all means report it so that we have it on file, so that if it continues we can look at something like criminal harassment or even sending something like a community officer to go speak to the problem person to put an end to that situation," she said.

But even if you don't choose to report the incident, Skrabek said, you should write down details about the time, place and perpetrator if you can.

After 29 years in Winnipeg, Lai said he never considered himself an outsider in his community.

"It never really came into my mind up until just recently that the colour of my skin or my ethnicity would actually affect how other people would judge or interact with an individual, especially in Winnipeg," he said.

Lai said he feels political activity south of the border may be emboldening racist speech and he wants the individuals who targeted him to know it isn't funny.

"Most importantly, it's hurtful. I understand it's probably meant out of good laughs or jokes, but in the end, it's something for my little kids that they're always going to have questions," he said.

"I think it's important for them to have an understanding that once you say something, you never really get it back."