Mr. Speaker, COVID-19 has unleashed a surge of anti-Asian racism across North America. From Atlanta to Vancouver and even Markham, the Asian community, especially the Chinese community, have been victimized.
It began as hurtful comments at the beginning of the pandemic and grew into physical violence. The numbers are staggering. Major cities have seen the number of hate crimes grow as much as 700%, and most of the targets are women. I encourage everyone to confront racism when he or she sees it. Racists are only encouraged by silence.
Unfortunately, the federal government has not done much. A Liberal member of Parliament has admitted that the federal government has, to some extent, overlooked Asian communities in its recent anti-racism strategies. The Prime Minister needs to acknowledge the growing anti-Asian racism and do more to tackle it.