MLA Kirkpatrick introduces petition for removal of discriminatory restrictive covenants

BC Liberal MLA Karin Kirkpatrick introduced a petition with 4,426 signatures in the Legislature on Monday, calling for the removal of racist language in decades-old land covenants.

“Discriminatory covenants based on race are exclusionary, demeaning and extremely offensive,” said Kirkpatrick. “With a dark history of discrimination in B.C., these documents show racism is still very much alive if no action is taken. I urge the government to use all its tools to ensure the removal of unlawful restrictive covenants as hate has no place in our society.”

The petition was started by Michele Tung, a West Vancouver resident who was asked by the City to submit a restrictive covenant that reads, “no person of the African or Asiatic race or of African or Asiatic Descent (except servants of the occupier of the premises in residence) shall reside or be allowed to remain on the premises.”

“Racial segregation should belong in the history books, not in a legal document in 2022,” said Kirkpatrick. “All levels of government must play a role in undoing historical harms, so that our next generation will never have to experience such horrible and hurtful language again.”