VANCOUVER -- The City of Vancouver is apologizing for racist comments posted to its social media channels during a virtual town hall meeting with Black and African communities.

It says it enabled comments on the YouTube livestream to allow for comments and questions to the panel during the town hall last night.

The city says that was shut down when some people started using it as a platform for hateful views but the comments spread to other social media channels.

It calls the behaviour despicable and appalling and says it reinforces its commitment to oppose and eliminate racism in the city.