Saint John — After a particularly hard year, the City of Saint John is hoping to jump-start their local economy by offering free on-street parking to motivate shoppers. Well, most shoppers.
While the city informally began its publicity campaign earlier this week, they formally announced the initiative on Tuesday to give white people free parking for one hour.
“I’ve never been a fan of the term ‘white privilege,’” said City Councillor Floyd Butler. “But, I have to admit, it fits rather nicely here.”
The free parking will be offered through the city’s newly developed app, SeigHot, the cartoon logo of which features a smiling meter maid, complete with a yellow vest and skin head.
Simply scan your face and input your genealogy into Saint John’s famously secure database, and you’re all set to go! With your choice of language — American English or U.K. English — you can lay claim to whatever land you want, regardless of who was there first.
Many have voiced their concern that the parking app will put residents of different racial and cultural backgrounds at a disadvantage.
“We fully intend to develop a second app that allows similar benefits to other ethnicities,” said Butler, in defence of the plan. “It will be a separate app, of course, but we’re fully confident that they will be equal.”