Anti-racism group says two Black Montreal firefighters faced years of racial abuse

The Red Coalition says one of the firefighters, on his first day at work, was called the N-word by a colleague.
Published Oct 31, 2023  •  Last updated 1 hour ago  •  1 minute read

Two Black Montreal firefighters say they have for years been subject to racist abuse from their colleagues and that their managers didn’t do anything about it.
A Montreal anti-racism group told reporters Tuesday it filed a complaint with Quebec’s human rights commission on behalf of the two firefighters.
Article contentThe Red Coalition says one of the firefighters, on his first day at work, was called the N-word by a colleague and that he faced more insults after he told his team he didn’t eat pork because he was Muslim.
Alain Babineau with the Red Coalition says that in the most recent alleged racist incident, a supervisor told one of the firefighters that a colleague’s use of the N-word was an example of freedom of speech.
The coalition is asking the human rights commission to investigate the allegations and to order the Montreal Fire Department to pay each of the men $40,000 in damages.
The city of Montreal didn’t immediately return a request for comment.