'Speak English in Canada,' Woman Rants at Chinese Staff in Burnaby drugstore

A woman’s tirade against staff at a Burnaby Shoppers Drug Mart on Monday — captured on video and being shared widely on social media — was rude and racist, says the man who filmed it.

In the video, posted on Facebook by Allen Tseng, a woman is seen berating the Asian staff for “speaking Chinese” in front of her. The unidentified woman calls one staff member “rude as f–k” for not speaking English.

“Speak English in Canada,” she says while pointing her finger at a female customer service agent. “You’re rude, you are rude. Go somewhere else.”

The woman continues her profane rant against three employees while a young boy looks on beside her. According to Tseng’s post, it happened Monday at the Shoppers Drug Mart at Kingsway and McMurray Avenue.

“I just want to put this lady on blast for being extremely rude and racist. And hopefully show her there (are) consequences to this type of behaviour. It’s sad to see this sort of racism still in 2019 and in Greater Vancouver,” Tseng said in his post.

Tseng didn’t see what touched off the dispute but said the female staffer who took the brunt of the abuse was working to assist the woman.

“The Asian lady was trying to help. She was asked to help by (a manager), but they spoke to each other in their own native tongue and that’s when the misunderstanding happened,” he said.

Tseng said the staff members were all visibly shaken after the woman left the store.

“It made me feel sad for the employees that they had to be verbally harassed like that,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Loblaw Canada, which owns Shoppers Drug Mart, says the company has been in touch with the Burnaby store and will offer additional resources and support to staff if required.

“The incident that took place on Monday was unacceptable and extremely disappointing to see. It has absolutely no place in our stores. We believe fully in two-way respect between our employees and our customers and were appalled to see that behaviour,” Catherine Thomas said in a statement to Postmedia News.

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