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This article was published 5/2/2017 (1319 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A well-known local disability rights lawyer is lashing out at the Fort Garry Hotel for what she alleges is an inadequate response to a racist comment made by a patron at the city landmark’s Palm Lounge.

"Was just told by a female patron in her 30s at Palm Lounge at the Fort Garry Hotel to go back to my own country," Winnipeg lawyer Priti Shah wrote in a Facebook post Saturday.

MARC GALLANT / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Priti Shah says she was in ‘utter shock’ after an incident at the Palm Lounge in which she was allegedly told to ‘go back to my own country.’

"Still in utter shock! It’s not my first experience with racism in Canada but somehow the sting is much greater than I anticipated. Feel free to share. @HotelFortGarry Palm Lounge at the Fort Garry Hotel," Shah wrote.

Shah wrote the hotel inflamed the incident with a response that fell far short of her expectations.

"The Fort Garry Hotel, Spa & Conference Centre Management response was to ask her group if they wish to move tables," Shah wrote.

'We are not tolerant of racist or derogatory comments ever' ‐ Fort Garry Hotel owner Ida Albo, left

"Management refuses to do anything else. One of her friends came over to apologize but no one else is standing up."

The owner of the Fort Garry Hotel apologized Sunday to Shah in a private phone call and in public in a call to the Free Press.

"We apologize. We’re really sorry another customer offended her in our hotel," owner Ida Albo said Sunday.

"We are not tolerant of racist or derogatory comments ever."

Albo also said there are "inconsistencies" in the account and while she won’t go into detail about them, she stressed staff could have handled the incident better.

"I called Priti to apologize on (our) behalf for what happened to her with another customer late Saturday night," Albo said. She told the lawyer the hotel would take steps to ensure staff are better able to handle such incidents in the future.

Shah, however, countered she was the one who called the hotel owner, not the other way around, and because of that she’s not satisfied with the apology.

"What has happened is done but moving forward we need to make sure we’re all equipped to respond in situations like this. We can’t just brush it under the carpet. We have to take measures to stand up and say what’s right," Shah said.

Shah is a disability rights lawyer with her own legal mediation firm, Praxis Conflict Consulting, and is former legal counsel for the Canadian Disability Rights Council. She worked on the Sue Rodriguez case, according to her LinkedIn business profile.

Rodriguez was a British Columbia woman with ALS who was the first Canadian to challenge courts for the right to assisted suicide.

There were several posts of support for Shah on the Hotel’s Facebook site for the Palm Lounge Sunday.

"I am amazed at the audacity of some people to say such a thing to another person, but somehow not surprised by the lack of support/response from management. How awful for you. Sorry to hear this happened and also caused past hurts to resurface," read one post.

"And we felt so snug in Canada thinking we were so much better. What an awful thing to happen to you! We have a lot of education to still do. I wrote a comment on the page of the Palm Lounge will be interesting to see if they reply!!!!" another post read.

Meanwhile, the incident evoked some bitter memories for Shah, who grew up in Winnipeg. In her Facebook post, she recounted past incidents of racism, where she or other members of her family were ignored, slighted or discriminated against for their heritage.

Shah’s post went up Saturday, within hours of the mayor’s successful walk for human rights just a short distance away at The Forks.

The event drew hundreds of supporters who gathered at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Mayor Brian Bowman called for the gesture to generate respect for diversity and foster inclusion after a deadly attack in Quebec City last week.

Six Muslim Quebecers were killed in a Quebec City mosque late last month and many others were wounded when a lone gunman opened fire during prayers.

The act of radicalized racial hatred shocked the country and drew international expressions of sympathy.

Thousands of Canadians have responded with an outpouring of support for Muslim Canadians and refugee immigrants since then.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and the mayors of Montreal and Quebec City attended the funerals last week.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca