Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Fire staff for racist email: chief
-- Parks Canada deletes 'joke' from system -- Immediately disciplines workers involved
Parks Canada disciplined a small number of employees after an email containing a racist joke was distributed throughout its offices.
The offensive email, which portrayed aboriginals and African-Canadians in a negative light, was reportedly forwarded to 180 employees but was pulled from Parks Canada systems as soon as it came to light, said Cheryl Penny, superintendent of Riding Mountain National Park.
"It was a shocking and appalling email that was not reflective at all of the views of Parks Canada or Riding Mountain. It came from outside and, unfortunately, it was shared with the staff here," she said Thursday.
Penny said while the email may have been mistakenly sent to a large distribution group, because it was deleted so quickly from its systems, most of the recipients likely didn't have a chance to open it.
The email was, however, opened by Chief Wilfred McKay from Rolling River First Nation, who had it forwarded to him by an aboriginal Parks Canada employee.
Penny said the individuals responsible for sending the email were disciplined "immediately."
She declined to provide specifics of the punishment because the incident is an internal human resources matter, but added those responsible were dealt with "very strongly."
"We're continuing to follow up with what needs to be done to rectify the situation," she said.
That includes communicating with Parks Canada's Manitoba partners, including the Southern Chiefs Organization, an indigenous political body that protects treaty rights in southern Manitoba, to apologize and assure them the park wants to continue working with them in "respectful and open ways."
Grand Chief Morris Swan Shannacappo of the SCO said he heard about the "sick joke" last Friday and, after talking to his brain trust, decided to take the matter "as high as I can."
"I'm going to draft a letter to the (federal) minister about these jokers. They should be severely reprimanded. I'm going to ask for their resignations or that they be fired. If anybody used the 'N' word in my office, I would fire them on the spot. I would not tolerate that in my organization," he said.
Swan Shannacappo said this isn't an isolated racist incident.
He said when local First Nations were asked by Parks Canada to cull the elk herds in Riding Mountain over the past year, derogatory comments about "Indians hunting in the park" sprung up quickly in neighbouring communities.
Nahanni Fontaine, SCO's director of justice, said the offensive email reinforces that racism is not on the decline in Manitoba.
"It's not just an email, it's symbolic of the whole colonial history that says it's OK that we're less than (those of other ethnic backgrounds) and to make fun of us... but it's not.
"Using that language is disgusting and hurtful and pushes the relationship between aboriginal groups and government agencies back many years."
geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 10, 2010 A3
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