I'm a visible minority that was born and raised in Collingwood in 70's and 80's. There was some prejudice due to ignorance but I didn't find any bigotry or racism. It wasn't until I moved to Toronto in 1990 and saw many different ethnic groups and neighborhoods that I realized there was such a thing as prejudice, bigotry, and racism. Actually, as a proof-read this, there was racism toward natives back then.

Collingwood was a small town (population 13k) in 1975 and residents were laid-back. They had issues with Toronto people and their aggressive nature (speeding, cutting lanes, etc... basically any normal behaviour required to survive living in a city). In the 80's and 90's tourism really kicked into high gear with Cranberry Resorts and Intrawest developing Blue Mountain. Big box stores moved in and crushed the local economy. Prices started to rise and pretty soon Collingwood residence couldn't afford to shop in their own town or purchase homes which were starting to get purchased by Torontians. This is my take on why townfolk hate cityfolk.

I don't go back to Collingwood very much but times are tough all over. I suspect residents have a love-hate relationship with city folk since the economy is tourism-focused. In addition, there aren't many high paying jobs in Collingwood and with Covid-19 and social media, people are poisoned into blaming others for their hardships.

In the past when I've experienced similar situations to yours, I used to get really angry and frustrated because I am Canadian and don't even speak the mother tongue of my ethnic background and if I don't belong here, where do I belong? Now I feel sorry for the offender because I wonder what hardships they have endured and whether they have a supportive network of family and friends. Everyone was once a baby, born without hate or prejudice; some event in their life made them act out and direct it towards you.