By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Training in Red Deer upcoming on how to respond to Lethbridge-type incidents

May 11, 2018 | 8:53 AM

One of the big questions being asked following a disturbing incident at a Lethbridge diner is how should witnesses respond in these types of scenarios?

This week, a video surfaced online which was recorded just after midnight on April 21 at a Denny’s restaurant in that city. It shows a woman berating a group of men, telling them to go back their own country, among other things.

In Red Deer, the Welcoming and Inclusive Communities Network is chaired by Kareen Lambert and Sadia Khan. The organization has dealt with situations involving blatant discrimination in the past.

Lambert points out off the top that given the woman, since identified as Kelly Pocha, is from BC, this is clearly a national issue as opposed to one exclusive to Alberta.

“It’s really disheartening to see how much negativity and fear and entitlement there is in our country, and that people seem to have this sense the country belongs to one specific type of person is terrifying in a way,” she says. “It is a lot more prevalent than we would like to acknowledge.”

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Lambert says in a roundabout way, it’s actually nice for this to come to light because now those who are having discrimination thrown in their face daily have evidence of it.

But if you find yourself witnessing such a confrontation, what’s the correct way to react?

In May 2017, two people died and another was critically injured in Portland, Oregon when they intervened in a situation where a person was hurling racial slurs at a woman wearing a hijab.

“There are risks to sticking your nose in,” Lambert admits. “We like to think it is just common human reaction to do the right thing, but our fear for ourselves and our discomfort with the social situation sometimes stops us from saying what we need to at the time. How often do we look back and think we should’ve said something?”

Luckily, there is some special training being offered in Red Deer next month which deals specifically with this dilemma.

Urban Aboriginal Voices Society (UAVS) is hosting a two-day event June 19 and 20 where attendees will earn certification in Anti-Discrimination Response Training. The session will be led by Dr. Ishu Ishiyama from UBC and there is a fee.

Tanya Schur with UAVS says the training will allow those in attendance to go forth and spread the message.

“It’s really this idea of the power of 10. If 10 people get trained and go teach 10 more people how to respond as an active witness, we will very quickly show all of our community that this type of language and attitude is not acceptable and will not go unaddressed,” says Schur.

She applauds the way the incident was shared far and wide on social media, saying that it may be painful to watch, but society needs to face the music.

“We don’t have to address the perpetrator,” she adds. “We can address the victim and let them know we don’t agree and that it’s not okay.”

To register for the training in June, visit the Central Alberta Regional Consortium website. Bursaries are available for Métis participants.