The B.C. government is under fire for failing to remove blatantly racist documents from the province's land title registry.
Covenants restricting “Oriental” buyers were placed thousands of properties in Metro Vancouver and Victoria nearly 100 years ago, and still remain on the books.
The clause, which states “no Oriental shall be allowed to purchase the within described property” is no longer legal, but critics say the province isn’t doing enough to have it removed.
Realtor Aaron Jasper said a new homeowner on Kitchener Street in Vancouver’s East Side was shocked and offended after noticing the covenant registered against the property.
It was placed on the land in 1931.
“If he was going to was to sell this home, he would feel awful if someone of Chinese or Asian background would have to read such a horrible clause,” Jasper told CTV News.
That kind of racist clause was commonplace in West Vancouver’s British Properties and Vancouver’s Shaughnessy neighbourhood. It wasn’t until 1985 that the province changed the laws to declare racist clauses void.
But homeowners, realtors and activists alike want it removed entirely from the provincial registry.
“It’s not good enough to say ‘don't worry, it doesn't apply -- it's null and void.’ He finds it really offensive,” Jasper says of the homeowner.
The government says removing the clauses isn't simple because the document may include other clauses that still apply, and it would require a lot of work to find them.
Richard Bell, a real estate lawyer, says it’s important for the government to address the issue, no matter how much work it is.
“It’s a bit of a stain on our society… It took place as late as the 1950s,” he said.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Mi-Jung Lee
