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“We have been ostracized, humiliated, degraded, slandered, undermined, ignored, verbally and physically assaulted, sexually harassed, and sexually assaulted,” the group wrote. “Our competence and suitability for the job is constantly, irrationally, and discriminatorily questioned and scrutinized.”
CBC reported that two workplace reviews of CFD have been conducted since 2014, but they’ve never been made public. Nenshi said he also hasn’t seen the results of those investigations, and he also wants answers on what the City knew about the situation.
City council’s public hearings on systemic racism last year included stories about problems within City of Calgary workplaces. Nenshi said there are investigations underway in each of the departments where problems were reported.
He said the City should be a leader in supporting an “actively anti-racist” workplace, and that means having the right plans to address discrimination.
“To my BIPOC colleagues in the fire department, I want to say you should have — and you have every right to have — an extraordinary career. You dreamed of being a firefighter, and let’s make sure that the career lives up to your dreams,” he said.
“To those who perhaps ascribe to an old-school, locker-room mentality in the fire department, what can I say other than, ‘Quit it,’ and understand that you serve every single person in this community.”
The group of firefighters allege in their letter that diversity and inclusion efforts at CFD have amounted to “ticking of boxes,” and they’ve experienced PTSD because of workplace abuse.
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