Indigenous man says he’s sick of being followed around at Giant Tiger in Regina

Ezekial Bigknife says the same employee has followed him every time he goes grocery shopping at the store.

The video, which was posted to Facebook on Friday, has left commenters accusing the employee of racial profiling.

Head office for Giant Tiger apologized to Bigknife in writing and verbally on Saturday, and said it had suspended the loss prevention employee while the retailer investigated.

On Monday, it issued a news release stating the employee no longer works for them.

Bigknife said he wants a direct apology from the north Regina store and better training for its employees.

“I just got so sick of it — so sick of putting up with that and being followed around and stuff,” he said. “I just wanted to record it to show people what I was going through and what’s been happening.”

The young father, who works as a drywaller, said he and his family live a block away and are frequent shoppers. Since the beginning of October, they’ve been followed around seven times, he said.

“I think it’s just a racial thing because there were plenty of other people he could have followed. I don’t know why he would have just followed me and singled out me every time I go there,” Bigknife said.

“It feels like I’m doing something wrong when I know I’m not. I shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable when I’m shopping at a public establishment.”

He suggested the store location needs to train its loss prevention workers “to be more discreet and not single out somebody that’s a regular customer.”
 
The news release from Giant Tiger did not specify whether the employee was fired or quit. It noted the company is undergoing a “rigorous internal review” of its loss prevention program.

It also said it is committed to making sure all its stores understand the proper process for dealing with such concerns.

“Giant Tiger is proud of the role we play in our communities,” Giant Tiger president Thomas Haig said in the news release. “What occurred in our store should not have happened.”