A day after an Edmonton Elder talked to CTV News about an incident that saw him banned from a downtown shopping mall, officials at the mall admitted in a statement that staff should have handled the incident differently. However, Moostoos said he is still too hurt to meet with mall officials.
On Tuesday, Gary Moostoos talked to CTV News, recounting an interaction he had with security staff at the City Centre Mall Monday, October 27 – the interaction ended with Moostoos facing a six month ban from the mall.
On Tuesday, mall management said they were reviewing the incident.
Then, on Wednesday, Edmonton City Centre management issued the following statement:
“We have reviewed the incident, including watching the video that he shared with media plus our own security video, and have spoken with the security agents involved. It is clear mistakes were made and we should have acted differently. We have reached out to him numerous times and we are hoping that he will accept our invitation to meet so we can discuss it with him face to face and apologize to him in person.”
The statement went on to say management had been in contact with staff at Mayor Don Iveson’s office, accepting an offer of learning materials for frontline staff to “enhance their cultural sensitivity.”
However, Moostoos told CTV News Wednesday afternoon that he was still too hurt over the incident.
“I am not in any place to meet with Oxford [Properties Group] to hear an apology,” Moostoos said, saying he thinks the company wants to apologize because “they got caught”.
“I will meet with them, but when I’m ready,” Moostoos said.
Earlier Wednesday, Mayor Don Iveson weighed in on the issue, having received numerous comments related to the incident through social media:
Moostoos said he was in the food court at the mall, eating, when he said he was approached by security guards, who asked him to show his ID, saying they thought he looked like someone who had been banned from the mall in the past.
Much of the incident was recorded by Moostoos on his mobile phone – the video shows the guards questioning him about the people he associates with, and about an incident dating back to the previous summer, that incident took place outside the mall, dealing with other individuals who had been banned from the mall.
Moostoos works as an outreach worker with Boyle Street Community Services, the executive director said his job is to deal with troubled people.
“One of the reasons he was given (for the ban) was that he associates with gang members and criminals,” Executive Director Julian Daly said Tuesday. “Gary, in his spiritual role associates with everyone.”
At the end of the recording, Moostoos could be heard saying he wants to talk to someone other than mall security, but he’s told he has been banned and has to leave.
On Wednesday, Moostoos said he wants his ordeal to serve as a turning point for the treatment of First Nations people nationwide.
With files from Dan Grummett and Danelle Boivin
