Racist flyers circulated at York U campus

Toronto police are investigating after racist flyers were circulated on York University’s Keele Street campus — the second time in a week that anti-immigration flyers have been posted in the GTA.

The flyers, which make derogatory comments about immigrant communities, were posted around campus and in mailboxes of residences in nearby neighbourhoods with large student populations.

The flyer reads: “If mass third world immigration continues, white Canadians will be reduced to a persecuted minority, not only at York, but in their own country!! It doesn’t have to be this way!”

The flyers sparked outrage among students and staff at York.

“We are disturbed and appalled by these blatantly racist flyers,” Vice-President Equity of the York Federation of Students said in a statement.

“The diversity of the York community is a source of strength and we will not tolerate any kind of hate speech that fosters an unsafe environment for students.”

The flyer bears the name of Immigration Watch Canada, but a spokesperson for the group denied being behind it.

It also features the York University Logo.

“We did authorize the distribution of two flyers at York University, but the flyer [with the York logo] was not authorized by us,” Dan Murray of Immigration Watch Canada told CityNews in an email.

York U posted the following message on its Facebook page:

“Recently a group unaffiliated with York University distributed a poster on our campus using York’s logo and photography without our permission. These posters have caused a great deal of concern within our community. As soon as York was made aware of them, we immediately removed these posters wherever they could be found, and formally instructed the group responsible for creating them to cease and desist using our logo and photos in any communications.”

Diversity, inclusiveness and freedom of expression are core values of York University. The racist messages on these posters stand in stark contrast to our values. Going forward, York’s campus services and business operations department and our security services will be increasing their checks for unauthorized posters and any similar communications on campus.”

Last Thursday, a similar flyer targeting immigrants and Sikhs surfaced in Brampton.

A line on that flyer says, “Stop the Madness,” and asks Brampton residents to “say no to the massive third world invasion of Canada,” saying immigrants will reduce white Canadians to a minority. It also has the face of a Sikh man covered by a “prohibited” symbol.

Immigration Watch Canada also denied being linked to that flyer despite the group’s name appearing on it.