A Canada Day celebration in Calgary has sparked a heated online debate about civic responsibility in the Indo-Canadian community.
The Guru Nanak Free Kitchen and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community hosted a free ice cream distribution event at Prairie Winds Park on July 1, drawing thousands of attendees. However, the festivities were overshadowed by a viral video showing the park heavily littered with discarded paper plates and ice cream boxes.
The footage, recorded by a woman named Veronica Lace, captured her confronting attendees and volunteers about the mounting waste. Expressing her disappointment, she said, “We share our land. We don’t treat our land like this,” and urged people to immediately pick up the garbage rather than leaving it on the ground.
Event volunteers clarified that a complete clean-up was planned after the conclusion of the event. The clean-up was eventually carried out by volunteers who stayed behind to clear the park. Lace, however, argued that leaving trash on the ground even temporarily was unacceptable, as wind or rain could easily scatter the debris.
The viral incident has divided opinion online. While some netizens defended the organisers and criticised Lace for behaving like an “entitled Karen” over an ongoing event, the controversy also prompted debate among Indians online.
One user commented, “Littering is wrong yes but she’s behaving like an entitled Karen. She has no authority to enforce the law on every single attendee, it’s not her job to.”
Another said, “And we wonder why the whole world hates us.”
A third wrote, “I am so ashamed being an Indian, when I see this behaviour.”
Many commenters condemned the attendees’ “lack of civic sense”, pointing out that individuals should use dustbins immediately rather than wait for others to clean up their mess. Many also argued that carrying poor habits abroad damages the diaspora’s reputation and reinforces negative stereotypes about Indians overseas.