Osoyoos barber shop owner recorded berating immigrant competitor for opening up his shop

An Osoyoos man is upset after another local barber walked into his brand new shop and demanded to know how he dared open, "especially being new in this country," as she put it.

Surjit, who came to Canada from India and goes by just that name, owns Smart Look Barber Shop. He first opened in Oliver in 2017, then this October expanded with a second shop in Osoyoos.

But just three days in, he got a less than warm welcome. Sue Gerrard of Dirty Hairy's Barber walked into Surjit's shop in early October, and he recorded the interaction when it became frosty.

"Do you not understand how, especially being new in this country, this is stepping on toes? And undercutting? We don’t need another barber in this town,” Gerrard says on the recording, referencing her own shop and a few others.

Smart Look is located next to one of them, though not the one Gerrard owns. But she took issue with Surjit moving in so close to it, saying she couldn't believe the Town of Osoyoos gave him a business licence.

"If that was me next door, there's no way you'd be open here. No way," Gerrard says.

"Let me explain it to you this way. That’s like me going to India and being a new guest in the country and totally disrespecting your people and not caring about what other people thought. I would probably be shot, in a country like that.”

Gerrard also took issue with Surjit's pricing, a $15.99 cut for men, which she seemed to think would undercut her own.

"It's called having respect," Gerrard says. "That's not having respect for people that are already in business. It's one thing to open right next to a barber shop, that is extremely ballsy and so disrespectful on every level but to put a sign out there for $15...no."

Speaking with Castanet Thursday, Surjit said the interaction left him disappointed and unfairly targeted, and wondering what business it was of Gerrard's to get involved. He said his neighbouring barber has no issue with his location.

"I'm really upset," Surjit said. "It's a free country, you know? She pushed me on the price ... it's my choice."

Gerrard also spoke to Castanet briefly on Thursday, declining to comment in depth on what she called an "out of context" recording. When asked whether she felt some of her comments were racist, she vehemently denied it.

"People are going to draw their own conclusion, nothing I said was racist," Gerrard said, adding many of her customers and close friends are Indian and that there is "not a racist bone" in her body.

Surjit said he isn't sure how he feels about whether the interaction was racist, but the recording has been circulating in the Indian community of the South Okanagan since he posted it online, and some who have heard it have their own opinions.

Independent of Surjit, whom she does not know, Deepi Mann sent the recording to Castanet as well, seeking to shine a light on what she calls a similar example of casual racism that she has experienced her whole life as a born-and-raised Okanagan resident with immigrant Indian parents.

Mann was sent the recording by a friend who got it from her mother, and she was immediately incensed.

"Hearing it, it was quite overwhelming to be honest, just seeing it verbalized in that matter especially towards a man whose first language isn't English," Mann said. "She's saying that, you know 'you're in a new country,' 'You're stepping on our toes,' 'You're a guest,' 'What if I disrespected your people,' 'I'd be shot if I went to India,' all of those things are ridiculous."

Mann sent the recording to Castanet not knowing Surjit had also contacted media about it, because she was tired of conversations about racism in the Okanagan being kept in the dark.

"In the Indian community, especially with immigrants who have come here like my mom and dad, they are very scared of bringing this stuff to the media," Mann said. "But if we don't raise awareness, then there's nothing that can change."

For Surjit, while his interaction with Gerrard was discouraging, he has been buoyed by acts of generosity and welcoming from the community in the days since he posted about the incident online. The local Home Hardware owner brought over a welcome gift, a gesture that left him feeling grateful.

But the incident still rankles.

"I do not deserve it."

The unedited recording can be heard above.