Woman who demanded ‘white doctor’ did not commit a crime

Jun 20, 2017 | News

Woman demands a “white doctor” treat son at Mississauga, Ont. clinic

(Courtesy: CBC)

By: Michael Piccoli

Following the backlash from a video of a woman demanding a “white doctor” went viral, police said she will not be charged.

Police were called to a medical clinic in Mississauga on Sunday after a woman verbally abused employees and made a scene in the waiting room.

The woman was caught on video repeatedly requesting a “white doctor.”

“I would like to see a white doctor,” she said.  “You’re telling me there isn’t one white doctor in this whole entire building?”

She also was seen saying, “Can I get a doctor who is white and speaks English.”

Const. Mark Fischer was one of the officers who responded to the incident.

Fischer told Humber News that police were called because of a “disturbance at the clinic”.

“She was described as being verbally aggressive,” he said.  “Three officers came to the conclusion that no criminal offence had been committed.”

He explained that these type of situations do not happen that often.

“This is the first that I heard.  I wouldn’t say it’s very common at all.”

When approaching an incident like that, Fischer said, “The first thing is to protect everybody and make sure nothing is happening.”

The woman was not charged with any crimes.

“There has to be a crime committed in order for it to be considered or labeled a hate crime,” he said.  “So if she had assaulted somebody while making these comments, it would be considered assault with hate motivation.”

“The issue was resolved without any injury or any threats of any kind,” said Fischer.  “It’s a closed case from the police standpoint.”

Hitesh Bhardwaj, the individual who witnessed the event and recorded it on video, spoke to Humber News about the incident.

He said there were employees from many ethnicities working at the clinic.

“Apparently this woman was already in the clinic,” he said.  “But while I was waiting for my appointment, that woman came and was saying those words.”

“I didn’t know the context, I didn’t pay attention,” he said.  “Only until she said she wanted a white doctor.”

Bhardwaj said he was shocked by the incident.

“It was quite disturbing to see.  Canada is a very inclusive country and is very welcoming.”

Bhardwaj explained that there were small children in the clinic during the incident, but he was “quite encouraged to see people acting out.”

Bhardwaj recommends that people “stand up and resist” when they witness situations like this.

“If we don’t do anything then things don’t change,” he said.  “We have to do everything to our capacity to stop it.”

Cheryl Teelucksingh, associate sociology professor at Ryerson University told Humber News that this was a type of “everyday racism”.

She said this was “an incident whereby normalized practices become opportunities for people to voice racist stereotypes.”

“She [the woman in the video] was connecting whiteness with legitimacy and capability,” Teelucksingh claimed.  “This had to do with questioning the status of a racial minority.”

“Some people have a sense of what someone in Canada should behave like,” she said, regarding expectations that certain people may have for Canadians.

She also claimed our neighbour to the south might be inspiring the behaviour.

“There is more space for it when you have someone like Trump in power.”