Multiple Transport Canada employees violated the government’s code of values and ethics by sending emails containing racist and violent language at work more than a decade ago, a Transport Canada investigation has concluded.
The email contained a link to an offensive parody song called “Strangers on my Flight,” set to the tune of a Frank Sinatra number. The spoof features derogatory lyrics based on racial stereotypes about travellers wearing turbans. The lyrics also talk about harming travellers with baseball bats.
The ten Transport Canada employees who shared the email worked in aviation safety — the section of Transport Canada that oversees the enforcement of Canada’s no-fly list with airlines. The program has been criticized for mistakenly flagging some Canadians — including children — as security risks because of their names.
Transport Canada’s integrity office acknowledges that while it initially launched two investigations that touched on the email, it did “not fully investigate” the email itself.
It wasn’t until after CBC News published a story in December 2019 about the email that Minister of Transport Marc Garneau ordered the department to launch a third investigation. That probe found multiple breaches of the government’s values and ethics code and the department’s policy on the use of electronic networks.
“In retrospect, this was an error, which has been corrected with this latest investigation,” said Transport Canada in a statement. “Transport Canada and the federal public service at large do not tolerate racism or discrimination in any form.”
‘This incident is not who we are’
CBC News originally reported on an email that listed Mark Haynes as the sender. He was working in the Aviation Security Office at Pearson International Airport in 2008, at the time of the email incident, and later served as the Transport Canada manager at the Ottawa International Airport. In 2018, he went on secondment with Global Affairs Canada as a senior liaison officer in Zambia.
“THIS IS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!” said the email, which linked to a video of the derogatory song. “They should play this nonstop at all airports.”
When contacted by CBC, Haynes referred to the email as “alleged” but didn’t deny authoring it, confirmed he was part of an investigation and said he was not subjected to any disciplinary measures.
Haynes has not responded to CBC’s latest request for an interview.
Michael Keenan, Transport Canada’s deputy minister, sent a note to all Transport Canada staff last week with the results of the latest investigation. He told employees that, although the email is a decade old, there are no time limits on efforts to address such behaviour in the public service.
“This incident is not who we are,” Keenan said in the note. He added that Transport Canada’s human resources section is reviewing options for disciplinary measures for the six employees still with the department who sent the email.
“It is never acceptable,” wrote Keenan. “Sending of these emails is a violation of our Code of Values and Ethics for the Public Sector and the Policy on the Use of Electronic Networks.”
The emails had been sent between 2006 and 2010 using employee work accounts and on Transport Canada’s network, which is considered an “unacceptable use of Government of Canada electronic networks and devices,” says a summary of the investigation report released publicly.
Keenan told staff they have a responsibility to speak up if they witness inappropriate behaviour in the workplace.
“This is an opportunity to learn from the mistakes from our past and build a better present and future workplace for all employees,” he wrote.
‘This is part of what makes it systemic racism’
Renee Soeterik said that’s exactly what she did — and she claims it ruined her career.
Watch: Ex-Transport Canada staffer says she blew the whistle on racist email
Soeterik said this case is the definition of systemic racism and claims Transport Canada covered up the offensive email. 0:40
Soeterik said she received the email from Haynes in 2008, along with other employees and managers. She claims she spent years bringing it up at meetings and retreats, only to be labelled a troublemaker and to be ostracized and sexually harassed on the job.
Soeterik said she left the public service because her workplace had become toxic. Haynes, meanwhile, moved on to a new posting abroad to improve women’s participation in international peacekeeping operations, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“Shame on them,” said Soeterik. “This is part of what makes it systemic racism. It’s the cover-up.
“I’ve been fighting for this to come to light for the better part of 12 years. I think it’s a national tragedy that it takes media exposure for the government to do things right. That’s terrible.”
An ‘important point of context’
Transport Canada flagged what it called an “important point of context” in its report on the eight-month long investigation, which involved interviewing more than 30 current and former employees, conducting a forensic review of the email system and examining documentation.
The department noted that when the email was sent in 2008, the workplace environment at the Aviation Security Office at Pearson International Airport (PIA) was dealing with “significant interpersonal conflicts and problems.” There were a number of complaints and grievances involving employees targeting one another.
“… staff who worked there in 2008 described the PIA office at the time as being a dysfunctional work environment with workplace cliques where a few individuals created a climate of intimidation, fear and dissension among coworkers,” reads the report.
The investigation did not find evidence to substantiate Soeterik’s claim that she raised the issue a decade ago. Management first became aware of the email in 2017 when it was given a hard copy during a broad investigation to resolve ongoing workplace problems, according to the report. But no action was taken.
“Given the large number of conflicting allegations being made, and the extensive corrective management actions that were underway, no additional action with respect to the email was taken,” reads the report.
In 2018, another hard copy of the email was given to Transport Canada by Amnesty International on behalf of families who were fighting to fix Canada’s no-fly list because their children were being unfairly targeted by it. Martin Rubeinstein, the former senior integrity officer of Transport Canada, was tasked with investigating.
He did a “brief review” and concluded Haynes had no influence over the no-fly list because Public Safety Canada decides whose name goes on it. But the department didn’t deploy any disciplinary measures — or investigate how many people sent emails containing the racist lyrics — until CBC’s story sparked the third investigation. Rubeinstein now works for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, according to LinkedIn.
“In retrospect, the email could have been investigated more thoroughly when raised in 2017 or late 2018,” says the investigation report.
The report recommends that the department’s deputy minister take appropriate action and remind staff the department does not tolerate discriminatory behaviour in the workplace.
Do-not-fly list families ‘disheartened’
Ruby Alvi’s three sons have been erroneously included on the no-fly list. She’s been part of a group of families working with Transport Canada on a redress system and said it’s disappointing this email wasn’t taken seriously years ago.
Watch: Man on no-fly list calls for zero tolerance for racism at Transport Canada
Adam Ahmed has been on Canada’s no-fly list since he was a child and is disappointed Transport Canada took so long to thoroughly investigate a racist email sent at the office. 0:30
“It’s really disheartening,” said Alvi. “I feel like I’ve lost some hope about who we are working with to find a solution.”
She said she wants to know what Transport Canada is going to do about the systemic racism that exists at all levels of the department.
“However the story came out, it’s loud and clear — they need to fix this so the public can trust them again, especially with sensitive issues like security,” she said. “I mean, these are people who oversee security and the list my kids are on.”
Her son Adam Ahmed, 22, has been on the no-fly list since birth due to a government error. He said he doesn’t understand why it took the government so long to take action on the email.
“It’s quite ridiculous,” said Ahmed. “This stuff shouldn’t take a long time to deal with. It should be done swiftly.”
Families with children on the no-fly list said they received an apology from Transport Canada last week. But they want assurances the six people who shared the racist email will not be working on a redress system for their families.
Transport Canada did not release the names of the other individuals who violated the government’s code of conduct and is currently reviewing further action.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Employers and the union representing supervisors embroiled in a labour dispute that triggered a lockout at British Columbia’s ports will attempt to reach a deal when talks restart this weekend.
A spokesman from the office of federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon has confirmed the minister spoke with leaders at both the BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514, but did not invoke any section of the Canadian Labour Code that would force them back to talks.
A statement from the ministry says MacKinnon instead “asked them to return to the negotiation table,” and talks are now scheduled to start on Saturday with the help of federal mediators.
A meeting notice obtained by The Canadian Press shows talks beginning in Vancouver at 5 p.m. and extendable into Sunday and Monday, if necessary.
The lockout at B.C. ports by employers began on Monday after what their association describes as “strike activity” from the union. The result was a paralysis of container cargo traffic at terminals across Canada’s west coast.
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint against the employers for allegedly bargaining in bad faith, a charge that employers call a “meritless claim.”
The two sides have been without a deal since March 2023, and the employers say its final offer presented last week in the last round of talks remains on the table.
The proposed agreement includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term along with an average lump sum payment of $21,000 per qualified worker.
The union has said one of its key concerns is the advent of port automation in cargo operations, and workers want assurances on staffing levels regardless of what technology is being used at the port.
The disruption is happening while two container terminals are shut down in Montreal in a separate labour dispute.
It leaves container cargo traffic disrupted at Canada’s two biggest ports, Vancouver and Montreal, both operating as major Canadian trade gateways on the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
This is one of several work disruptions at the Port of Vancouver, where a 13-day strike stopped cargo last year, while labour strife in the rail and grain-handling sectors led to further disruptions earlier this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Judicial recounts in British Columbia’s provincial election should wrap up today, confirming whether Premier David Eby’s New Democrats hang onto their one-seat majority almost three weeks after the vote.
Most attention will be on the closest race of Surrey-Guildford, where the NDP were ahead by a mere 27 votes, a margin narrow enough to trigger a hand recount of more than 19,000 ballots that’s being overseen by a B.C. Supreme Court judge.
Elections BC spokesman Andrew Watson says the recounts are on track to conclude today, but certification won’t happen until next week following an appeal period.
While recounts aren’t uncommon in B.C. elections, result changes because of them are rare, with only one race overturned in the province in at least the past 20 years.
That was when Independent Vicki Huntington went from trailing by two votes in Delta South to winning by 32 in a 2009 judicial recount.
Recounts can be requested after the initial count in an election for a variety of reasons, while judicial recounts are usually triggered after the so-called “final count” when the margin is less than 1/500th of the number of votes cast.
There have already been two full hand recounts this election, in Surrey City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat, and both only resulted in a few votes changing sides.
A partial recount of votes that went through one tabulator in Kelowna Centre saw the margin change by four votes, while a full judicial recount is currently underway in the same riding, narrowly won by the B.C. Conservatives.
The number of votes changing hands in recounts has generally shrunk in B.C. in recent years.
Judicial recounts in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky in 2020 and Coquitlam-Maillardville in 2013 saw margins change by 19 and six votes respectively.
In 2005, there were a record eight recounts after the initial tally, changing margins by an average of 62 votes, while one judicial recount changed the margin in Vancouver-Burrard by seven.
The Election Act says the deadline to appeal results after judicial recounts must be filed with the court within two days after they are declared, but Watson says that due to Remembrance Day on Monday, that period ends at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
When an appeal is filed, it must be heard no later than 10 days after the registrar receives the notice of appeal.
A partial recount is also taking place in Prince George-Mackenzie to tally votes from an uncounted ballot box that contained about 861 votes.
The Prince George recount won’t change the outcome because the B.C. Conservative candidate there won by more than 5,000 votes.
If neither Surrey-Guildford nor Kelowna Centre change hands, the NDP will have 47 seats and the Conservatives 44, while the Greens have two seats in the 93-riding legislature.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
