‘Volatile’ crowd hurl racial slurs in Surrey at Trudeau fundraising event

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was forced to cancel plans to attend a fundraising dinner on Tuesday evening after two speakers at the event said protesters hurled racial slurs at the mostly South Asian attendees entering a convention centre in Surrey, B.C.

“The situation has become a little volatile, many of the guests who are coming today and attending a wedding next door have experienced some racial slurs and things of that nature,” a man said at the podium at the event.

The speaker says that although they are disappointed, safety is key.

Trudeau did not enter the Aria Banquet Hall and instead spoke to a crowd for about three minutes virtually instead of making a speech in person.

He said no one should be intimidated or stopped from exercising their democratic freedoms “because that’s what this country is all about.”

Read more: Facing boos in Kamloops, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues B.C. visit Tuesday

Trudeau said he would return to see his supporters in Surrey in the future, and an organizer of the event told attendees they should feel free to stay and enjoy dinner.

Defence Minister Anita Anand addressed the crowd, and shortly after a Liberal Party staffer asked a reporter to leave the room.

About four dozen protesters used expletives as they chanted against Trudeau and honked horns outside the convention centre.

“We don’t like the way he’s running Canada,” one man said as another spoke through a megaphone. A social media image shows one attendee holding a noose.

About half a dozen RCMP officers stood by watching the crowd.

Earlier this month, police began investigating after a video circulated on social media showed people hurling verbal abuse at NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh during a protest in Peterborough, Ont.

Nicole Comber, owner of Peterburgers, and others from their “Hold Fast” gang came out to yell at Singh in Peterborough today — and give a message that he is “not welcome”.

The federal NDP leader had dropped by the campaign office for an Ontario NDP candidate running in the provincial election.

Read more: Verbal abuse against Jagmeet Singh under investigation in Ontario

A video shows Singh encountering protesters as he left the campaign office, and they can be heard shouting expletives at him and calling him a “traitor'” as he gets inside a vehicle.

Singh later told reporters he found the experience “intense, threatening (and) insulting'” but that he is more worried about what it means for politics in general.

The Peterborough Police Service said a week later that there were no grounds to proceed with criminal charges although the language was troubling, the actions of protesters “failed to rise to the threshold in being criminal in nature.”

With file from OMNI News