Offensive graffiti found across Neepawa

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Published on Tuesday, July 4, 2017

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Banner

RCMP are investigating a wave of graffiti, which struck several locations across Neepawa over the Canada Day long weekend. Sometime over the course of the weekend, one of the welcome signs into town, the new sidewalk at the Flats, as well as the concession stand at Neepawa Lions Riverbend Park were spray painted with derogatory remarks directed towards immigrants. A slur directed at the British monarchy was also found on the side of Neepawa’s Royal Canadian Legion building.

Neepawa RCMP staff sergeant Mark Morehouse said they received a call from Town officials on July 2, in connection to the damage done to the signage and the park. He also acknowledged that while they had not received a formal notification on the tagging at the Legion, officers have been made aware of it. Morehouse said in response to this incident, RCMP have stepped up local patrols and are asking for anyone with potential information connected to the vandalism to immediately contact the detachment.

After the markings were discovered, work crews with the Town of Neepawa were quickly dispatched to first cover up the offensive remarks and then to go about removing them from the sign and concession building. Mayor Adrian de Groot said that the extent of the damage may require more elaborate methods to remove it, such as taking down the welcome sign and refacing it. As for the initial reaction to hearing about what had happened, de Groot noted that he and other town officials were appalled.

“Obviously we’re not happy about having something like this happen over the long weekend. The nature of the graffiti is especially disappointing. This is not acceptable and not indicative of the community at large. This is not Neepawa,” stated de Groot. “It also alarms me that it happened over the Canada Day weekend. We just celebrated our nation and its cultural diversity and then something like this happens. It’s simply not good. It’s unacceptable.”

As for the graffiti which tagged the Legion building, that occurred on private property and was covered over by members of the branch early Sunday morning. Bud Johnson, a representative with the Royal Canadian Legion said they were disappointed with the lack of respect this graffiti represented.

“Any type of markings, no matter what the message, is disheartening. This building serves as a place for those who have served to come together. It’s just a lack of respect for those who served and sacrificed,” noted Johnson.

In response to this outbreak, several local community members and businesses have stepped up to assist. James Underwood arranged a grassroots community initiative to aid with the cost of the clean up.

“I, personally, was going to go down to the Legion and donate money to help cover the costs of the paint. Then I thought, maybe other people would do the same, so I made a Facebook post and it just started the ball going,” stated Underwood. “It’s pretty amazing to see how much care there is in the community. The owners and staff of the Golf Pro Shop, Neepawa Home Hardware and It's Time are really going to be the ones that need the kudos as they will be doing the collecting of the donations. Also, Vincent Livingston, from Competitive Edge Painting, who is willing to donate his skills and paint to help too.”

As of Tuesday, July 4, three local businesses, the Neepawa Golf and Country Club, Neepawa Home Hardware and It’s Time Fashion and Gifts had already volunteered to assist as donation drop off centres

Landon Cameron, the general manager and golf professional at the Neepawa Golf and Country Club, said upon hearing about Underwood’s idea, he knew he wanted to be involved. He added that, in his experience, Neepawa has been very inclusive and supportive of new arrivals and this type of action is not representative of the community. 

Having immigrated to Canada with her family, the vandalism hit close to home for Ineke Mack, the owner and operator of It’s Time Fashion and Gifts. 

“My heart broke when I saw the vandalism targeting our new Canadians, I imagined how it would have felt if that was targeted at my family after we had just made our home in this area. As a community, Neepawa is so much more vibrant and celebrated with the influx of new immigrants, from any country, we should be celebrating their arrival not target them with racial slurs,” expressed Mack. “When [Underwood] put the idea forward, I felt it was a way I could help, and point the hurt and anger towards something positive.”

Michelle Gerrard of the Neepawa Home Hardware Building Centre, said they’re proud to be participating in this fundraising initiative, noting that the community appears quite eager to throw its support behind this.

Any donations to assist with clean up efforts can be dropped off at those locations over the next few days. As for the search for the individuals involved with the vandalism, the Neepawa RCMP detachment is appealing for witnesses to come forward or asking anyone with information to call 1-204-476-7340.

Publisher’s note: Though the Neepawa Banner does have pictures of the graffiti, we’ve chosen not to publish the offensive materials.