Two students at Mount Allison are speaking out about an incident at the Champlain Mall this past weekend where they say they were treated unfairly and asked to leave because of their race.

CHMA has agreed not to use the students actual names because they are both concerned about social media harassment. For the purposes of telling their story, we’re calling them Sandra and Megan.

On Saturday afternoon, after doing some shopping at Champlain Mall in Dieppe, Sandra and Megan say they sat down in a food court seating area and were immediately approached by a staffperson who told them they needed a drink in order to sit where they were.

Sandra had a drink with her that she had purchased previously at the food court, but couldn’t finish at the time.

“We were just going shopping and then we decided to go to the additional seating area of the mall, which was almost empty… We both had our masks on and I had my shopping bag. And so we just sat down in a seat,” says Sandra.

“We weren’t standing around or being close to anyone. We weren’t really breaking any rules. But as soon as we sat down, we were approached by a worker there and he was pretty rude to us.”

Sandra showed the worker her drink, and then he then left them alone briefly. He returned after a minute and told them again they had to leave.

“When he came back, he said, you guys have to leave here now, or I’m calling security,” recounts Sandra. “And I asked him why, like you said, we can sit here if we have a drink. And we see this white girl sitting there without any food or drink. How come she can sit here and we can’t, when I obviously have a drink?”

“We weren’t trying to cause a scene,” says Sandra. “We were just trying to reason with him. And we were just very confused on why he chose to target us immediately as we sat down instead of everyone else.”

Sandra and the worker talked back and forth for a minute or so, says Megan, “and it eventually escalated to where he said you can either leave or I can call security and have you taken out of the mall.”

Sandra started to record a video, feeling that she wouldn’t be believed unless she had some evidence to show people. Canada is as a pretty peaceful country, she says, and known for multiculturalism.

However, the one other woman in the food court area called out and asked not to be filmed, and so Sandra stopped recording. Her video is brief, and shows the mostly vacant food court area, except for one lone woman sitting at another table.

Shortly thereafter three security guards arrived, but that didn’t help matters, according to Sandra and Megan.

“A whole security team came and instead of talking to us first they went to the white girl first and asked her what’s going on,” says Sandra. “And after talking to her, they immediately came and told us to leave without really hearing our side of the story.”

The mall has a policy about sitting in the food court, limiting the time people can stay there for 30 minutes. Sandra and Megan say they were fully aware of the policy, and were not breaking it since they had just sat down.

“I tried to like tell him,” says Sandra, “hey, we don’t do anything wrong here. We don’t really bother anyone. I have a drink right now. And he didn’t believe me. He was questioning me. He was like, where did you get it?”

Megan says the two offered to show the staffperson receipts, but were told there was no need.

Then, says Sandra, one of the staff said, “with all this COVID stuff happening, we can’t have you sitting here.”

Megan says she asked the man, “What do you mean by that? And he did not answer me. He just kept repeating that he would call security.”

Sandra and Megan both have an Asian background, and believe what they experienced at the Champlain Mall was anti-Asian discrimination.

Across the country, Asian-Canadians have been sharing stories of anti-Asian behaviour during the COVID pandemic. The swell in anti-Asian racism is being fuelled by the belief of some that because the virus originated in China, it is somehow Chinese.

In reality, no country has been able to control the spread of the virus. It became a global pandemic very early after it surfaced, and as of today more than half of the cases documented worldwide have been in the US, India, and Brazil.

Megan grew up in New Brunswick, and says she did experience subtle racism that she didn’t even quite understand until she was older. But since COVID, she says it’s more overt. Sandra, who has lived in Canada since 2014, agrees.

“I think the pandemic definitely brought out the worst side of people,” says Sandra. “There was a lot of subtle and micro aggression against Asians even before the pandemic. But because of the pandemic and the fact that it originated in China, it gives people the sense of entitlement and almost a justification for their blatant racism.”

Megan has had a customer in the restaurant where she worked ask to be served by someone else. Sandra has had a group of teens make loud jokes about “bat soup” while she was waiting for an ice cream. At the Chapters in Dieppe recently, a man loitered around her and made loud comments about products made in China.

Sandra says with earlier incidents she didn’t want to confront people, but this time she thought about other students, especially international students at Mount Allison, and decided to speak out.

“This is a small incident,” she says, “but it kind of shows the community attitude toward Asians. And we think that this reveals a much bigger issue. That’s why we wanted to raise more attention and awareness around it, and hopefully hold people accountable for their actions.”

Sandra posted briefly about the incident online, and tagged the mall on social media. She says the mall replied to a friend’s post and called the situation a “misunderstanding”. Megan doesn’t buy it.

“It wasn’t a misunderstanding,” she says. “We received the message loud and clear that we weren’t welcome there.”

CHMA contacted the company that owns the Champlain Mall, real estate giant, Cadillac Fairview.

On Wednesday, the company emailed a statement from Brian MacMullin, General Manager of CF Champlain, which says the company is doing its best, “to connect with the guests to apologize for their experience and any misunderstanding.”

The statement includes the promise of an apology, but also explains the mall’s limited seating availability due to COVID restrictions, including its 30-minute seating limit, which Sandra and Megan say they were aware of and did not violate.

The statement acknowledges that the mall’s “enforcement was too strong”, but then suggests they will soften their approach by, “adding more signage in the food court for awareness and relying on the goodwill of our guests to follow the guidelines.”

The statement also says the CF Champlain will, “be speaking with staff to ensure they are communicating in a friendly, customer service oriented manner, especially during these heightened times.”

Meanwhile, two days before this email was sent, Sandra says she and Megan spoke to someone in the mall’s administration who said they would, “pass the message up to the right people.”

However, as the mall representative pointed out, the security team and the cleaning staff who approached Sandra and Megan are all employees of third party companies that have contracts with the mall. They are not direct employees of CF Champlain.

Megan says one of the tough things about the incident was that the two friends felt very alone, abandoned by their fellow mall shoppers who watched what happened.

“I felt like no one was there to stand up for us,” says Megan. “Because even though it wasn’t a crowded area, there were lots of bystanders. And they just… It felt like they were just watching and waiting to see what we would do. But I feel like we needed support at that time.”

“When people stand by and watch you face this sort of thing,” says Megan, “it feels worse than facing it alone. Because it feels that to you that nobody is standing up for you, that they agree with this person.”

Sandra says the experience has shaken her, and added unneeded stress during an already stressful time. “I just don’t really have the kind of mental energy to be able to keep up with schoolwork while still having to cope with the new and old added racist experiences,” she says.

“I didn’t even tell my parents about an incident because, it’s like, they’re going to be so worried. And no parent should feel that way. No parents should feel like their kids are being targeted because of their race.”

Sandra is close to tears as she describes the experience and its aftermath as traumatizing. “There’s absolutely no consequences,” she says, referring to the lack of redress from mall managers. She says she feels heartbroken by the situation.

Sandra and Megan are hoping that by speaking up about the incident, they can create some awareness that might do some good.

“We do feel as if it’s part of our responsibility to speak up and address the issue,” says Sandra. “Because this is definitely not the first time it happened, and we know that it will happen again.”

If you have experienced or witnessed racism and would like to share your store, contact news@chmafm.com.