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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, M ay 2, 20 19 | 4 THISWEEK: The 2003 disappearance of Pamela Holopainen has left her family longing for answers. Always online first at TheIFP.ca/coldcase UNSOLVED: ONTARIO COLD CASES A Georgetown woman says that she was left "traumatized" by racial in- cidents she recently expe- rienced while participat- ing in a women's political leadership program on Parliament Hill. Serisha Iyar-Singh is among the participants of colour who say they be- lieve they were the victims of targeted and systemic racism at Daughters of the Vote, an event that bringsVote, an event that bringsV women from every riding across the country to Otta- wa for a multiday, in-depth political experience. "Growing up in George- town as one of the only non-white kids in town, and coming from a family that lived through apart- heid, I thought I was pre- pared to be tokenized," she said, noting that former delegates from the pro- gram had also forewarned her of what to expect. "However, I was not pre- pared to be traumatized." While the 23-year-old notes that the bulk of the harassment was aimed at Indigenous, black and Muslim delegates, she said she was one of the women of colour - including her younger sister, Trisha - who was essentially un- able to use the decompres- sion rooms provided at the event, as white delegates were using the space to "complain they were scared of us." "As a result, we were forced to congregate be-forced to congregate be-f hind closed doors in hid- ing, where we could cry, debrief and comfort one another during a traumat- ic week of microaggres- sions and blatant racism," she said. "We were not able to participate together in groups publicly because our presence was appar- ently threatening to white delegates." The Georgetown Dis- trict High School alumna took to social media to post about both the good and bad parts of the program she had experienced. She said she then began receiv- ing direct messages from delegates that she deemed "both inherently racist, and a result of my partici- pation in some of the pro- tests that occurred at Daughters of the Vote." The local woman was among the delegates who made headlines by turning their backs in protest dur- ing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's speech at the event; peaceful protests were also held in response to some other speakers, like Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer. After returning home and reflecting on what had happened, Iyar-Singh said she realized when speak- ing with her mother that the tactics she experi- enced were all too familiar. "In South Africa, my family and other people offamily and other people off colour were not allowed to congregate together ei- ther, as part of the apart- heid system," she said. "This was when I realized how traumatizing the week had been." The Daughters of the Vote event was presented Vote event was presented V NEWS GEORGETOWN WOMAN SPEAKS OUT ABOUT RACIAL EXPERIENCES AT POLITICAL SUMMIT MELANIE HENNESSEY mhennessey@ metroland.com Georgetown's Serisha Iyar-Singh is among the Daughters of the Vote participants who say they were the targets of racism during their time in Ottawa. Serisha Iyar-Singh/photo See - page 5