An elder from Muscowpetung First Nation, located about 50 kilometers northeast of Regina, is calling for more to be done after an experience at Walmart last fall.
Joyce Kinesse says she went to the Prince of Wales Drive in East Regina on October 21, 2021, to buy 10 gift cards for $ 100 each, before the grandmothers’ gathering her community hosts.
However, the 69-year-old Saulteaux woman says that when she went to buy them, she ran into a sales associate who accused her of buying them for fraudulent purposes.
“I couldn’t even answer because I was in shock,” Kinesse said during a rally in front of the store on Friday.
Keepness said she left without buying the gift cards, but that Emalin Olsen – a apparently white colleague who works with her at Muscowpetung Health Center – returned later that day to buy them on behalf of Keepness.
“They didn’t ask me what my intentions were with them, they just gave them to me right away,” Olsen said.
Both Olson and Kinesse say that when the couple expressed their concerns to the customer service office immediately afterwards, they were denied a sedentary conversation with the manager.
Emalin Olsen said she bought the same amount of gift cards at Walmart as Joyce Kinesse tried to do on October 21, 2021, but did not encounter any problems. She believes that the difference in treatment comes down to the color of their skin. (Corey Herperger / Radio Canada)
After considering the situation for several days, Keepness decided to turn to the Saskatchewan Coalition Against Racism for help in reporting the incident.
“This is not the first time I have experienced this terrible racism – I have lived with it all my life. But it’s time to fight, “she recalled.
Keepness said the coalition contacted the manager of the local store, who forwarded the request to Walmart at the corporate level.
Discrimination “unjustified”: Walmart
Following written statements from Keepness and Olsen and an internal investigation by Walmart Canada, an employee of the company’s human resources department contacted months later by letter.
It says that based on “carefully considered” evidence, Keepness’s allegations are “unproven” and the employees involved have done nothing against Walmart’s policy of harassment and discrimination.
“This is the value of gift cards [at or over $1,000] may raise concerns that the buyer may be a victim of fraud, “wrote Janet Warner-Duncan, Walmart Canada’s Customer Experience Manager, in a March 16 letter.
“In such circumstances, the associate may contact a manager to take appropriate steps to help protect the client. In this case, the staff member asked you directly because he misunderstood that this was a process specifically for third-party gift card transactions. “
Warner-Duncan wrote that since then, management has told employees to alert the manager to “any concerns that the customer may be a victim of fraud” and that “there will be no further action on this concern.”
In a statement to CBC News on Friday, Walmart Canada said it takes “concerns of this nature seriously and is investigating[s] carefully. “
A spokesman called the incident a “misunderstanding” about the company’s processes over ordering large quantities of gift cards.
Calls for education, understanding
Keepness said Walmart’s response disappointed her, noting that she would prefer to see an apology and an invitation to meet with the workers involved to have a circle to share.
“Some of our elders from the first nations can come and work with their employees and inform them about our contracts – to educate them about what our people are experiencing on a daily basis,” she suggested. “We’re not all thieves. We work and our people have money to spend.”
Muscowpetung chief Melissa Tavita says she hopes Joyce Kines’ story will encourage more retailers to conduct cultural sensitivity training with their staff. (Corey Herperger / Radio Canada)
Muscowpetung chief Melissa Tavita said she was behind the elder, noting that he hoped the Keepness story would educate other retail workers to be careful about their treatment of local customers.
“If more people spoke out about this kind of action and treatment, I think people would get more awareness,” Tavita said. “I am saddened that not only my children, but also the children in our community – all children of the first nations – will have to grow up in this way of life if we do not change it today.
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