It might be nice to think that in 2004, racism is not a big problem
in the world’s most multicultural city, but that’s not the
experience of women who participated in a series of meetings across
Toronto last year. Their stories of trying to access city services
were collected in the report “If Low Income Women of Colour Counted
in Toronto" and presented to city councillors last month. Of the
many challenges facing minority women, one issue in particular
caught the interest of the media -- biased treatment by some TTC
employees. This included insults, rude comments and unusual scrutiny
of transfers and passes, leading many of the women to feel they were
being treated differently than other users.
After the
report was publicized, a bus driver wrote me -- and requested
anonymity. “I'm a TTC operator and this racism issue is creating
quite a buzz at work. We all know that there's some racism and most
of us agree that it is totally unacceptable. We also know that many
misperceptions of racism are caused by lack of understanding of how
the system works.
”What is
actually happening is that many white operators will not challenge
any but the most blatant abuses of the system if a visible minority
individual is involved. Depending on the route, some will not
challenge a person of colour for any reason. (On certain routes)
experienced bus operators challenge no one -- of any race or
ethnicity -- due to fear of assault or being spit upon.
”The smartest
thing the TTC could do here would be to come up with a new fare
system which would largely take the onus off the operators. The
transfers are the biggest problem. We need something cut and dried;
not subject to interpretation.”
The driver
points to two overlapping issues -- differential treatment based on
race, and conflicts over fares. On the first count, I spoke to Punam
Khosla, author of the report that was based on meetings with 150
women in nine different low income neighbourhoods across Toronto, as
well front-line workers and experts in the field of social services.
The study
points to difficulties minority women can face on a variety of
fronts, including using the TTC. Participants spoke of unaffordable
fares and trying to get around their local areas on a transit system
that is geared for longer trips. Ms. Khosla says the most
consistently surprising issue to come out of the discussions was
“discrimination on the system, which happens from both operators and
passengers.”
According to
the report, some women said that “drivers regularly humiliate them
with mockery and verbally abusive comments.” Those with difficulty
speaking English reported “they were frequently insulted by drivers
for not understanding the language, and openly ridiculed for their
accents.”
How widespread
is this? Is it an isolated problem, or is there a degree of
tolerance for such conduct at the TTC? Says Khosla, “Is this a
systemic problem that is in the transit system as a whole? The
answer is yes. That does not necessarily mean that every single
transit operator is engaging in this behaviour, but it means that
there is enough of a culture of this kind of behaviour within the
operation of the transit system that it requires a systemic
response. You cannot address a systemic issue by just saying that
two are three drivers are really responsible.”
Those involved
in the report have asked the TTC to set up public meetings across
the city to meet with minority women and discuss ways to address the
problem. The idea, says Khosla, is for the drivers’ union, the
commission, city councillors and the community to participate “in a
panel that goes out and actually hears these stories for
themselves.” Read In Transit on Friday for a response from TTC
management, the chair of the commission and a union representative.
Send e-mail to
transit@eddrass.com. Include
address and phone number.