2 Black firefighters in Montreal faced years of racial abuse, anti-racism group says
Posted October 31, 2023 12:11 pm Updated October 31, 2023 5:55 pm
Two Black Montreal firefighters say they’ve faced years of racist abuse from their colleagues, and they now believe it will take outside action to change the culture of the city’s fire department.
On Tuesday, a Montreal anti-racism group said it has filed a complaint with Quebec’s human rights commission on behalf of the two firefighters, seeking an external investigation of racism in the department and $40,000 in damages for each of them.
Alain Babineau, the Red Coalition’s director on issues of racial profiling and public safety, said Black firefighters shouldn’t have to rely on luck to avoid on-the-job discrimination.
“You can’t live hoping that you will end up on a respectful team, that should be a norm,” he said, adding that racism complaints are often dismissed or minimized by managers.
The complaint also alleges that the fire department’s union failed in its responsibility to protect its members against racism.
In documents filed with the human rights commission, the two firefighters lay out what they say is years of abuse from colleagues.
Alberto Syllion, who joined the department in 2008, said he was the only Black person in his group of recruits and that he heard racist jokes and pejorative comments almost every day during his integration period.
One of the senior officers in charge of training told him he was “good Black” because he didn’t get mad when racist jokes were made in front of him, he alleges.
On other occasions, Syllion said colleagues suggested he was a criminal because of his race.
One time, when responding to a medical call after a shooting, Syllion said his lieutenant and a police officer joked about him being known to police and said the lieutenant then asked him if the victim, also a Black man, was a friend of his.
“I found that insulting, dehumanizing and completely unprofessional,” he wrote, adding that when he later told the lieutenant the comment was inappropriate, “he was angry and said it was a joke and that’s what being a firefighter is about,” Syllion wrote.
Syllion, who said he was the eighth Black person hired by the Montreal fire department since its 1863 founding, was tasked with increasing the department’s diversity in 2011. That part-time role, however, put a target on his back, he wrote. “I’ve received insults, threatening telephone calls, been accosted by (Montreal firefighters) while out on my own time in a restaurant or a bar telling me that I’m not welcome in certain fire stations.”
While the insults towards him resulted in no action, he said he was disciplined for making discriminatory comments in uniform after joking with a police officer friend about racially profiling white people.
Syllion said he realized outside action was needed earlier this month, after a meeting during which senior officers failed to act against a lieutenant who had repeatedly used the N-word in front of a younger Black firefighter. Syllion, who had encouraged the young man to join the department, said the lieutenant and the younger firefighter were assigned to the same truck after the meeting about the racist comments.
In an email, Montreal city spokesman Gonzalo Nunez said that an investigation was conducted and the firefighter who made the comments was temporarily suspended and then sanctioned, without providing details.
A senior fire department official then visited the station “in order to reiterate that all forms of racism and discrimination are unacceptable,” 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 — coupled with a swear — on his first day of work.
When colleagues were told that he didn’t eat pork because he was a Muslim, Cameau, who joined the department 13 years ago, said he faced further insults.
Babineau said his group is speaking on behalf of the two firefighters because they fear retaliation if they speak publicly about their experiences.
“They love being firefighters,” Babineau said. “They just want to be treated with respect.”
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. That work continues, Nunez added.
However, Babineau said that the city agency tasked with receiving complaints is insufficiently independent and lacks teeth because it can only make recommendations.
Two Black Montreal firefighters say they’ve faced years of racist abuse from their colleagues, and they now believe it will take outside action to change the culture of the city’s fire department.
Alain Babineau, the Red Coalition’s director on issues of racial profiling and public safety, said Black firefighters shouldn’t have to rely on luck to avoid on-the-job discrimination.
“You can’t live hoping that you will end up on a respectful team, that should be a norm,” he said, adding that racism complaints are often dismissed or minimized by managers.
The complaint also alleges that the fire department’s union failed in its responsibility to protect its members against racism.
In documents filed with the human rights commission, the two firefighters lay out what they say is years of abuse from colleagues.
Alberto Syllion, who joined the department in 2008, said he was the only Black person in his group of recruits and that he heard racist jokes and pejorative comments almost every day during his integration period.
One of the senior officers in charge of training told him he was “good Black” because he didn’t get mad when racist jokes were made in front of him, he alleges.
On other occasions, Syllion said colleagues suggested he was a criminal because of his race.
One time, when responding to a medical call after a shooting, Syllion said his lieutenant and a police officer joked about him being known to police and said the lieutenant then asked him if the victim, also a Black man, was a friend of his.
“I found that insulting, dehumanizing and completely unprofessional,” he wrote, adding that when he later told the lieutenant the comment was inappropriate, “he was angry and said it was a joke and that’s what being a firefighter is about,” Syllion wrote.
Syllion, who said he was the eighth Black person hired by the Montreal fire department since its 1863 founding, was tasked with increasing the department’s diversity in 2011. That part-time role, however, put a target on his back, he wrote. “I’ve received insults, threatening telephone calls, been accosted by (Montreal firefighters) while out on my own time in a restaurant or a bar telling me that I’m not welcome in certain fire stations.”
While the insults towards him resulted in no action, he said he was disciplined for making discriminatory comments in uniform after joking with a police officer friend about racially profiling white people.
Syllion said he realized outside action was needed earlier this month, after a meeting during which senior officers failed to act against a lieutenant who had repeatedly used the N-word in front of a younger Black firefighter. Syllion, who had encouraged the young man to join the department, said the lieutenant and the younger firefighter were assigned to the same truck after the meeting about the racist comments.
In an email, Montreal city spokesman Gonzalo Nunez said that an investigation was conducted and the firefighter who made the comments was temporarily suspended and then sanctioned, without providing details.
A senior fire department official then visited the station “in order to reiterate that all forms of racism and discrimination are unacceptable,” 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 — coupled with a swear — on his first day of work.
When colleagues were told that he didn’t eat pork because he was a Muslim, Cameau, who joined the department 13 years ago, said he faced further insults.
Babineau said his group is speaking on behalf of the two firefighters because they fear retaliation if they speak publicly about their experiences.
“They love being firefighters,” Babineau said. “They just want to be treated with respect.”
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. That work continues, Nunez added.
However, Babineau said that the city agency tasked with receiving complaints is insufficiently independent and lacks teeth because it can only make recommendations.
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Archive
2023
January
Family of Montreal man killed while unlawfully jailed wants systemic racism inquiryLa famille de l’homme demande une enquête sur le racisme systémiqueSystemic racism inquiry called for by family of man who died after being pepper-sprayed at Bordeaux prisonDétenu mort à la prison de Bordeaux: une coalition exige plus de transparence sur le milieu carcéralUN GROUPE ANTIRACISTE RÉCLAME UNE ENQUÊTE PUBLIQUE SUR LA MORT DU DÉTENU DE BORDEAUXRights group seeks public inquiry into death of man in Montreal jailLobby group seeks public inquiry in Montreal man's jail deathAnti-racism group calls for release of video in connection with Montreal jail deathCivil rights group calls for inquiry into death of illegally jailed 21-year-old black manUne coalition réclame la publication de la vidéo de l’interventionLobby group seeks public inquiry, release of video in Montreal man’s jail deathAnti-racism group claims Quebec told Longueuil police to ignore court order on racial profilingAllison Hanes: Montreal prison death demands urgent answersRed Coalition: Quebec ministry told Longueuil police force to defy court order on racial profilingQuebec told Longueuil police to disregard court order on racial profiling, says anti-racism groupCivil rights group accuses Quebec of covering up race-based police dataQue s’est-il passé à Bordeaux ?Public inquiry ordered into jail death of illegally detained Montreal manPublic inquest to be held into death of man in Montreal jailChief coroner orders public inquiry into death of 21-year-old illegally detained at Bordeaux jailCoroner orders public inquiry into Montreal man's jail deathIl y aura une enquête publique du coroner sur la mort de Nicous SpringRed Coalition calling for investigation into systemic racism in Quebec jailsChief Coroner orders public inquiry into death of Nicous SpringPolice union head tells Montreal's new chief: staffing shortages 1st, community policing 2ndPROFILAGE RACIAL: UNE PLAINTE OFFICIELLE DÉPOSÉE CONTRE LA VILLE DE LONGUEUILCoalition alleges contempt of court against LongueuilPROFILAGE RACIAL: «LA CAQ DOIT TENIR SES PROMESSES», ESTIME LA COALITION ROUGEGroups to kick off Black History Month with measures to fight racism
February
Anti-racism group accuses Montreal-area school of systemic racismCalls grow to change streets named after Christopher Columbus on island of MontrealQuebec sisters afraid to go school, say racism complaints ignoredGroup says private school near Montreal ignored racism complaintsCas de racisme et de cyberintimidation au Collège Bourget de RigaudUn citoyen souhaite «annuler» Christophe Colomb à Pointe-ClaireRACISME ET CYBERINTIMIDATION: LE COLLÈGE BOURGET MIS EN DEMEUREBlack anti-racism groups lob volleys at Canada and QuebecProminent Quebeckers voice support for Trudeau’s anti-Islamophobia representativeProminent Québecers plead for federal anti-Islamophobia rep to be given a chancePetition against Bill 21 tabled at National AssemblyMontreal police brotherhood says it's too easy to blame its members for racial profilingLongueuil, other Quebec police slow in implementing race-based data frameworkAucune accusation ne sera portée contre les policiers qui ont tué Junior OlivierCalls for police accountability as officers who fatally shot Jean René Olivier face no chargesLack of care on Loyola property "unacceptable":DeBellefeuilleGroups call to cancel puppet show featuring minstrel characterUn spectacle pour enfants sème la controverse dans l’ouest de MontréalUn exemple de « racisme systémique », dénoncent des associationsLocal Montreal play carries on despite upset over controversial puppetFamily of man killed by Repentigny police says lawsuit incomingLa mère de Jean-René Junior Olivier poursuit la Ville de RepentignyLa mère de Jean-René Junior Olivier, abattu par des policiers de Repentigny en août 2021, a déposé une poursuite contre la Ville de RepentignyFamily of Black man killed by Repentigny police files to sue city for $430K in damages
March
Red Coalition alleges SPVM withholding findings on racial profilingAnti-racism group says Montreal police withheld findings of racial profiling reportUN GROUPE ANTIRACISTE AFFIRME QUE LE SPVM A RETENU LES CONCLUSIONS D'UN RAPPORT SUR LE PROFILAGE RACIALThis boarded-up building lays bare Montreal's crumbling social housing systemCity of Longueuil facing contempt charges related to police racial profilingLE PROFILAGE RACIAL EXERCÉ PAR LA POLICE DANS LA MIRE DU MINISTRE BONNARDELQuebec Bill on police practices facing criticismEthics complaint filed against Montreal executive committee chairperson"Smokescreen; a dog and pony show"City of Longueuil, Que. gets postponement of contempt of court charges
May
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July
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September
October
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