Metro Vancouver city officials have described posters advertising a “whites-only” social group for mothers and children as “vile garbage.”
On Sunday, posts began appearing on social media about the “Whites Only Moms and Kids” group aimed at families of European descent. On Instagram and xformerly known as Twitter, and many condemned the posters as racist.
Breaking: located some of the signs, which had been partially removed, at the Coquitlam Centre, a shopping center in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam, BC.
Officials in the neighboring city of Port Coquitlam said they had been alerted to the signs over the weekend and ordered officers to search for them and remove them.
Group seeks “proud parents of European children”
“As soon as we were notified, bylaw officers immediately searched the area and all bus stops, but no signs were present. Perhaps someone else was removing them,” said a joint statement from the city and Mayor Brad West.
“This vile trash is not welcome in our community or anywhere else.”
The posters advertise a playgroup for mothers and children to “join other proud parents of European children as we create an atmosphere where our children feel like they belong.”
Contact information at the bottom of the signs refers to the group as “White Parents and Children of the Tri-Cities.” Tri-Cities refers to the metropolitan Vancouver municipalities of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody.
In its statement, Port Coquitlam condemned the signs and the group they advertise “in the strongest terms,” adding that the city “promotes a hate-free environment.”
Census data from Statistics Canada in 2021 says Coquitlam has a population of almost 150,000 and Port Coquitlam has 62,000 residents, both with dozens of ethnicities represented.
The city is asking residents to report other signs to the RCMP, which it said was investigating, providing file number 23-25827.
Breaking: contacted the group via the email address provided on the poster, but did not immediately receive a response.
On the Telegram messaging app, the group page has more than 200 subscribers.
