Regina Vietnamese donut shop owner shares story of racist graffiti, community support with Trudeau

A Vietnamesebusiness owner in Regina reflected during a call with the prime minister this week on the widespread support he received from Saskatchewan residents after his doughnut shop was the target of racist graffiti last year.

Country Corner Donuts in Regina, Sask., was the target of a series of vandalism and hate speech over several months in late 2021.

Vuong Pham's shop on the corner of Broad Street and Dewdney Avenue had its windows smashed and shot with a BB gun. In early December, someone painted racist graffiti on the shop's exterior.

"That hate crime [doesn't] belong with Canadian people," Pham said.

A 46-year-old man from Regina was charged with five counts of mischief under $5,000 for tagging businesses in and around Downtown Regina, including Pham's shop.

Support from across Saskatchewan

Pham received an outpouring of support from across the province. He listed off Saskatchewan cities he said people had come from to contribute.

He mentioned one moment when a girl, too short to see over the counter, approached from the side to ask if he was OK.

"I'm [a] very strong man," he told her.

"I will remember that forever."

Pham said the support wasoverwhelming. Many patrons told himhe belongs in Canada.

"The communities all stand together."

Pham said the encouragement was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

'Little city and a guy like me'

Justin Trudeau is on thelist of people who reachedout to offer support. Pham said hewas shocked when he got a call from the prime minister's office last week.

"It's a little city and a guy like me and the head of Government [of] Canada," he said.

In an email, a spokesperson for the prime minister said Trudeau had learned of the vandalism at his shop and wanted to hear about what happened and how the community responded.

"[Trudeau] heard about Vuong's story, on his journey to Canada and his experience in the shop," Ann-Clara Vaillancourt, lead press secretary to the Prime Minister,said in an email.

Pham said he spoke with Trudeau for about 25 minutes on Thursday.

Pham said he was nervoustalking with the leader of Canada, but that the conversation flowed easily. The doughnut shop owner said he intentionally avoided talking about politics.

The call was sparked by the vandalism, messages of hate and the subsequent community support, but Pham said it developed into a chat about family and history.

"I reminded him that 43 years ago his dad, Pierre Trudeau, decided to bring 60,000 Vietnamese people from refugee [camps] to Canada," he said.

Pham and his family were included among the 3,000 refugees settled in Saskatchewan from that total.

"Canada [gave] me freedom."