‘They were genuinely saying sorry and that meant a great deal to me,’ said Dawn Wilson. ‘I really don’t think I fully had put this behind me before tonight. It was really beautiful’
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Two Indigenous customers who were racially profiled during a visit to a Coquitlam Canadian Tire store more than six years ago say they are ready to put the incident behind them following a traditional washing ceremony Tuesday evening at a hall in east Vancouver.
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The washing ceremony, a traditional act of restorative justice practised by the Heiltsuk Nation in Bella Bella, B.C., was agreed to as part of a settlement between Dawn Wilson and her father Richard Wilson and Canadian Tire and Blackbird Security. The Wilsons had complained they were singled out by store security for a search of Richard’s backpack at the checkout line.
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“It’s a great education and a way to show people how we use our traditional ways” to heal the hurt and move past conflict, Dawn Wilson said, after she and her father were brushed with cedar boughs, intended to cleanse them of the bad experience, and then robed — she in traditional blanket and he in a vest.
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Following the ceremony at the Croatian Cultural Centre, as the 75 attendees lined up for a communal buffet, she described the event as “beautiful.”
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“They were genuinely saying sorry and that meant a great deal to me,” she added. “I really don’t think I fully had put this behind me before tonight.”
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In January 2020, while the Wilsons were standing in line to purchase $600 worth of merchandise at the Coquitlam store, a security guard searched the backpack in which Richard carried his wallet. They were shopping at the store while waiting for new tires to be installed on their car, an $800 repair job.
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Dawn said when she complained to a store employee, he responded with racist remarks by repeating a stereotype about Indigenous people to her in front of other people. She said she cried when they got back to the car.
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She said they were further insulted when they were offered a $50 gift card after she escalated the complaint to corporate management.
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The corporate office didn’t immediately relay the complaint to the Coquitlam store and by the time it received it, the employee no longer worked there and the Wilsons said they felt insulted and unheard.
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They eventually filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal about two years ago. It was settled recently for an undisclosed amount of money with promises from the retail chain and the security company that they would make changes to educate staff to prevent racial profiling and other discrimination.
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As part of the settlement, the security company acknowledged the bag search constituted “differential treatment … on the basis of Indigenous identity, race, and ancestry.” The store acknowledged its employee made a “derogatory comment about Indigenous people.”
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After the washing ceremony, which ended with the Wilsons leading members of their family and elders dancing in a circle to drumming, two representatives from Canadian Tire and one from Blackbird Security offered apologies.
