“Daddy, why is she only stopping us?” – Acacia Fabing at Canadian Tire, Etobicoke, ON

When my family is racially profiled, I take action.

Earlier this year I vowed to no longer be silent and on Saturday November 14^th when I got home around 2pm in the afternoon to very confused 8-year-old and pretty pissed off husband, I had to stand by my word.

This story needs to be shared, for all the right reasons.  I’ll start right up front by saying that Canadian Tire is where this occurred and other companies should read what I’m about to share because this is how you handle a situation where emotions are high and could potentially escalate.  I feel compelled to share this and without minimizing what actually happened, I have call out that they did their due diligence in many ways.  They responded to our complaint, followed through on what they said they were going to do, shared next steps, apologized sincerely and most importantly, they acknowledged that it happened!

My mom experienced a similar incident not too long ago in Sudbury, ON at a grocery store where she’s a regular shopper and while she eventually received an apology from the store manager, the woman had no idea how to handle the situation.  On top of that, they did not have a protocol for stopping shoppers who had oversized handbags or backpacks.  Yeah, you read that right.  My mom’s “purse” is a leather backpack and she got stopped because of it and the explanation was that thefts are high.  Looking around, she saw many women with larger purses than her backpack.  I’ll leave that there.  Some might say small town and smaller brand but I say it doesn’t matter the size of your organization when there is an issue or challenge.  You better have a plan and you damn well better know how to deal with it but, this story is about Canadian Tire on the Queensway, Etobicoke, ON.

I also know that when human beings are involved, there is emotion and no amount of logic can beat emotions that are deeply hurt.  As well, when humans are involved there are bound to be errors and mishaps, including the unfortunate one my husband and child had to endure.  If you have read to this point, thank you.  I felt the need to preface in detail that this is written not to bash but to educate.

So what happened on November 14^th, 2020?

Ashley and Acacia were checking out with their purchase of 2 gallons of car oil and one pack of batteries.  No bag required – he carried the oil and she the pack of batteries.  Side note, my child was excited to get these batteries home as her night light required them and, because it’s her nighttime comfort we let her leave it on so naturally, battery usage for this thing is a thing!  Ashley let her get a big pack too so yeah, she was happy and excited to get home.  She walked a little ahead of him and the cashier beside theirs, who was cashing out someone else, turned around and asked loudly to see the receipt for the batteries.  He had the receipt in one of his hands carrying the one gallon of oil with it.  After looking around he doesn’t see anyone being asked and many walking out without bags.

Ashley: “Why do you need to see my receipt?”

Cashier:  Shrugs shoulders, looks down

Acacia: “Daddy why is she only stopping us?”

Ashley: “What is your protocol for people leaving with no bags?”

Cashier:  Shrugs, giggles and looks down

Ashley: “No seriously, if you can tell me that then cool.”

Crickets…..so, he leaves but is so worked up and shook he goes back to get her name so he can call the store once he gets home and calms down I guess.  She willingly gives her name and is now giggling again.  The young lady’s giggling says a few things to me – so privileged that she had no idea of what her action and reaction did to him inside; she knew she was out of line but not really trained or educated on how to handle the issue; nor did she have the maturity to apologize.

After they tell me the whole story we try calling only be hung up on or cut off – a few times.  I figured it’s Saturday afternoon, they’re busy (no excuse I know) but I give them the benefit of the doubt.  I take to Twitter and Facebook though – DMs, not posts because I’m still very calm at this point.  I explain everything and that our ask is that we’d like to know what their store protocol was for EVERYONE leaving without bags and if they are asked, what does this interaction look like?  For example, at Costco you know the drill.  Have your receipt ready at the door and to Ashley, was very odd that the cashier beside where he was checking out turned around and called them out while in the process of checking out her own customer??  Poor customer service in my opinion.

I get a response from both social platforms on Monday November 16^th apologizing, stating they will send it to customer service and that my husband will receive an email and a call from their team.  I’ll be honest, our expectations were low and all we asked for was an explanation of what their protocol was in these situations.  Nothing personal against Canadian Tire but we were just tired that this was happening yet again!

Monday afternoon Ashley receives an email from the manager at the Queensway location.  A very sincere apology on behalf their store and Canadian Tire.  They explain the protocol (so addressed our question) and included said employee’s version which doesn’t 100% line up with Ashley and Acacia’s version but, we appreciated the transparency.  They go on to say that the employee will receive coaching back as well as that their entire store staff will be re-trained on store protocols and the sensitivity around what happened and why.

Apology.  Action.  Next Steps.  I was impressed and not just a little.

On Tuesday November 17^th Ashley receives a call from Canadian Tire head office and while I only walked in on the last five minutes of the call, it was lengthy and when he hung up he said something like “wow, they actually called and sounded very sincere”.  The person apologized on behalf of the brand and all locations to him and our family.  She expressed that she understood how deep the feelings that come along with it goes.  They were embarrassed that this happened in one of their locations and also, they believed and admitted that my family had been singled out because of the colour of their skin.  They were going to do further investigation as the two stories didn’t quite match up and they would make sure to coach back to the employee, the store as well as employees in all their locations.  They had now way surpassed our expectations.

As a professional the business of crisis readiness they checked all the boxes and even some boxes that most brands would shy away from but the cherry on the cake was when Ashley said that it was indeed sincere.  He was heard and without clap back of any kind.  You know, someone trying to minimize the severity of what transpired or being told we’re overreacting or imagining….I can go on but any person of colour who has been racially profiled, whether directly or indirectly, you know!  This could have gone in a very different direction, but I believe Canadian Tire did it right.

Here are few things I pulled from this experience:

1. Responding to an issue in a timely manner is key – for both parties.
2. Emotion will never beat logic and the timely and sincere response was the action that could have made this go in a different direction.
3. My child recognized immediately something wasn’t right and we needed to make sure she saw us stand up, speak out and do so in the right way.
4. Canadian Tire recognized and admitted it happened.
5. They shared the actions they were going to take – coaching back and re-training the store as well all Canadian Tire employees.
6. We remained calm throughout and and this is a big win/learning because when emotions are involved it’s tough keep calm and rational. We all know this!

So, what now?

My family and I will continue to speak up and out and no matter the outcome, this is education at its finest.

From our family to yours Canadian Tire, we say thank you.

The Fabings.