Two groups of University of Lethbridge students say they were made to feel unwelcome during their back-to-school shopping trip on Thursday after they found themselves monitored by store staff and security.
The five shoppers, who are First Nations, were in the Hudson’s Bay in the Lethbridge Centre Mall when an employee allegedly made an announcement calling for all security staff to report to the men’s clothing department, the spot in the store where the groups happened to be at the time.
The would-be customers were allegedly surrounded by store security personnel and at least eight clerks who monitored their every move.
Melissa Shouting was at the store with her family and says she witnessed the poor treatment of the university students and immediately put back the items she had planned to purchase for her child.
In her Facebook post recounting the incident, Shouting expressed her regret for not recording the actions of The Bay staff but encourages others to join her as she takes a stand and refuses to shop at the store.
“It is hard to prove that these biased actions take place towards First Nations people in Lethbridge, because in the moment you forget to record everything. In the moment your [sic] mad because they only see the color of your skin, and fail to see you as a contributing member of society. It doesn’t matter what we do for careers or how we dress... we will always be seen for the color of our skin, and they will always react based on the biases they have learned.”
Shouting says she did speak with some of the students following the incident. The students involved were not available for comment on Friday.
Nadine Eagle Child, a learning facilitator for the First Nations transition program at the University of Lethbridge, is also calling for a boycott of the store following the incident that she describes as upsetting, especially for the students.
“I’d just like to see people treat us like we are real people,” said Eagle Child. “That’s what these kids are saying. We just like to be treated like normal people instead of being followed every time we go somewhere.”
CTV Lethbridge contacted store management for comment on the allegations and the request was directed to corporate head office.
On Friday, HBC communications issued the following statement to CTV: “Our customer shopping experience is of utmost importance. We take this issue very seriously and we are investigating the matter.”
Members of the Apiistamiiks - White Buffalo Trail Blazers, an organization that aims to record and report incidents of racism or hate in southern Alberta, is considered filing a formal complaint against the store.
With files from CTV’s Terry Vogt
