Five years ago. Montreal’s Corey Fleischer started Provincial Power Washing.
It started as a small project, but has now turned into something that has completely taken over his life.
At first he didn’t even realize the impact that this would have on people, but once he witnessed it, PPW became more than just a company that removes graffiti, it became a way to stop hate.
And it has garnered support and personal stories from people all over the world.
The amount of hate removals in the last 6 months has skyrocketed, with the struggle now simply being to educate the public that this is going on all over the country and that there is a service out there like Corey’s that removes these hate crimes with no costs to the victims.
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To get the real scoop on this moving and extremely impactful movement, we caught up with Corey to dig deeper into this journey and what prompted him to start removing the hate.
You’ve been quoted as being the “Lone Ranger of Graffiti removal…”:
I’ve been called a lot of things – some very positive some very negative.
As owner of Provincial Power Washing, you remove graffiti for cost but any hate crime is free of charge…
I have a graffiti removal business. I charge for regular graffiti but when it comes to hate crime graffiti I remove it for free. For the past 5 years, on my spare time, I have been scouring the city trying to erase any hate crime graffiti that I come across. I started noticing a terrible trend on and around the island so I decided to be pro active and do something about it. One thing led to another and now the word of this service has gone global. The world wide support that I have received for this endeavour is something that I never could have imagined in a million years.
What prompted you to take on such an endeavour?
I was tired of seeing these hate markings all over Montreal. I take pride in where I live and I am the type of person that if I see something that’s not right I’m going to try and fix it. I feel that if I turned a blind eye to these hate crimes that I would have been just as guilty as the person doing the crime.
Have you been a victim of hate crimes yourself?
Every time I see a hate crime I am a victim of a hate crime. That’s what’s so terrible about these crimes. It affects everyone that sees them. You immediately become a victim once you realize what you’re looking at.
What’s extremely special about what I do is that I get to end the cycle of hate. The next person that comes by that wall won’t be victimized and affected as so many have been before. Ending the cycle is a big reason why I love what I do.
Why do you think people use the city’s walls top express their hate?
To get your point of view across a wall in a heavily populated area will get the most visibility. When you do acts like this, you’re looking to get your point across…so the more visible the better.
What symbols do you see used the most?
85% anti-semitic, which are hate crimes against Jewish people (swastikas, KKK, etc.) I also see a good amount of racially driven hate crimes and homophobic hate crimes. I have been heavily involved with the gentrification issues in the St. Henri borough and have done huge clean ups for businesses such as Notorious Barbershop, Campanellis, Rustique, and a few others.
Have you ever encountered graffiti that was just impossible to remove?
I have never come across something that I could not remove. I am very crafty with what I do and I am able to get to spots that others normally could not.
I did a removal a few months ago at the Plamondon metro station where there were anti-semitic marking (Jews are rats) written on the seats. I went in with a few shampoo bottles filled with my chemical and a bottle of water and I was able to remove everything.
Do you think combating this on a regular basis will hopefully (eventually) lessen these displays of hate?
I do. I have made Montreal the first city in the world to have a preventative initiative to erase hate crime graffiti with no expense to the victims and I’m going to take this right across the country and make Canada the first country in the world to have a preventative system to combat these types of hate crimes.
To get more insight into Corey’s business, watch his segment on CTV news below:
http://canadaam.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=561517&playlistId=1.2259731&binId=1.815911&playlistPageN%20um=1&binPageNum=1
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