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It’s something that Delta North MLA Ravi Kahlon recognizes is happening more frequently during the pandemic.

Last year, Kahlon served as parliamentary secretary for multiculturalism and spent much of his summer touring the province to hear from British Columbians about racism at town halls and roundtable discussions.

“I think the one thing about a health crisis like the one we have is, it both brings out the best in people but it also brings out the worst in people,” said Kahlon of the attack.

Photo by ADRIAN LAM / PNG

“Hearing about this incident, it just reminds you that we have a lot of work to do and unfortunately, doing that work is a little more challenging under these circumstances but it’s more important now than ever.”

Kahlon acknowledged that these incidents aren’t as simple as identifying a bad guy or blaming bystanders for not intervening — perhaps out of fear for their own safety or health during the pandemic — but that these situations force a deeper look at societal pressures, inequality and bias.

“I think it’s important that people need to think, if an incident happens, ‘What are you going to do? How are you going to react?’ People need to start thinking about these things as well.”

He also noted that while major incidents such as the March 13 attack grab headlines, there are many other racially motivated incidents that are never reported or that were never witnessed.

“The only way to address … issues of hate and racism is by strengthening communities and knowing that work happens over time — it doesn’t just happen,” said Kahlon. “It takes methodical and determined steps to do that and to find ways during this pandemic to continue that work.”

Joe Tong is a Vancouver-based educator who said he began reading more media reports in March about violent race-related incidents linked to COVID-19 in other parts of the world.

“That’s when I started thinking, ‘You know what? We need some sort of visibility — before social distancing and all that happened — some way of putting it out there that this is an issue,’ ” said Tong.