(Montreal) Two black firefighters from Montreal say they faced years of racist abuse from their colleagues. They now believe that it will take external action to change the culture of the Montreal Fire Department (SIM).
On Tuesday, a Montreal anti-racist group said it had filed a complaint with Quebec’s Commission on Human Rights and Youth Rights on behalf of the two firefighters, demanding an external investigation into racism in the department and $40,000 in damage for each of them.
Alain Babineau, director of the Red Coalition for issues of racial profiling and public safety, argued that black firefighters should not have to rely on luck to avoid facing discrimination on the job.
“You can’t expect to land on a respectful team, that should be a norm,” he said, adding that complaints of racism are often dismissed or downplayed by managers.
The complaint also alleges that the firefighters union failed in its responsibility to protect its members from racism.
In documents filed with the Commission on Human Rights and Youth Rights, the two firefighters reveal what they consider to be years of abuse at the hands of their colleagues.
Alberto Syllion, who joined SIM in 2008, said he was the only black person in his group of recruits and that he heard racist jokes and derogatory comments almost every day during his integration period.
One of the senior officers in charge of training told him he was a “good black” because he didn’t get angry when racist jokes were made in front of him, he said.
On other occasions, Mr. Syllion said his colleagues suggested he was a criminal because of his race.
Once, while responding to a medical call after a shooting, Mr. Syllion said his lieutenant and a police officer joked that he was known to the police, and the lieutenant then asked him if the victim, also a black man, was one of his friends.
“I found this insulting, dehumanizing and completely unprofessional,” he wrote. When he later told the lieutenant that the comment was inappropriate, “he was angry and said it was a joke and that’s what being a firefighter was all about,” Mr. Syllion said.
Mr. Syllion, who says he is the eighth Black person hired by SIM since its founding in 1863, was tasked with increasing diversity in the service in 2011. The part-time role, however, put a target on his back, he said. -he writes.
“I received insults, threatening phone calls, I was approached by [les pompiers de Montréal] while I was in my free time in a restaurant or bar, telling myself that I am not welcome in some fire stations. »
Although the insults against him did not result in any action, he said he was disciplined for making discriminatory comments in uniform, after joking with a police officer friend about racial profiling of white people.
Mr. Syllion said he realized outside action was needed earlier this month, after a meeting in which senior officers failed to act on a lieutenant who repeatedly used ” the N-word” in front of a young black firefighter. Mr. Syllion, who encouraged the young man to join the department, said the lieutenant and the young firefighter were assigned to the same truck after the meeting about the racist comments.
In an email, a spokesperson for the City of Montreal, Gonzalo Nunez, indicated that an investigation had been carried out and that the firefighter who made the comments had been temporarily suspended and then sanctioned, without providing further details.
A senior fire official then went to the station “to reiterate that all forms of racism and discrimination are unacceptable,” Mr. Nunez wrote.
The other firefighter named in the human rights complaint, Jean-Alain Cameau, said in a document filed with the Commission that he was called “the N-word” – accompanied by an expletive – from his first day of work.
When his colleagues were informed that he does not eat pork because he is Muslim, Mr. Cameau, who joined the service 13 years ago, said he received further insults.
Mr. Babineau said his group speaks on behalf of the two firefighters because they fear reprisals if they speak publicly about their experiences.
“They love being firefighters,” said Mr. Babineau. They just want to be treated with respect. »
Mr. Nunez wrote that the city has taken steps over the past year to prevent racism and other forms of discrimination and that it made major changes to the process for receiving discrimination complaints last June. This work continues, added Mr. Nunez.
However, Mr. Babineau said the municipal agency responsible for receiving complaints is not sufficiently independent and lacks teeth because it can only make recommendations.