Halifax fire chief issues apology for systemic gender discrimination
Halifax’s fire chief apologized to all female firefighters who suffered systemic gender discrimination in the city, during a formal, negotiated apology to one former firefighter who won a settlement after a 12-year battle.
Fire Chief Ken Stuebing said he wanted to acknowledge a part of the service’s history that “we are not proud of,” noting that firefighting has historically been a male-dominated profession.
“In Halifax and in fact in many other fire services across our nation this has led to systemic discrimination based on gender. For this I extend an apology to Liane Tessier and any other female firefighter who has experienced discrimination within this organization,” he said.
The apology to Tessier came after years of her complaints about abusive and disrespectful behaviour from her male counterparts.