October 7, 2020
Geoff Smith, CEO EllisDon Sarah Downey, CEO Michael Garron Hospital
Dear Mr. Smith and Ms. Downey:
The discovery of hate graffiti last Friday, October 2nd at the Michael Garron Hospital construction site has once again sent our East End community reeling.
It is upsetting for the entire community that our new hospital extension, which is being built as a place of healing, has been repeatedly tarnished by hate.
We want to emphatically state that we are aware that Michael Garron Hospital is a space of superb medical and community care; we continue to be grateful for that.
In that light, we know that you will want to take further action to ensure the job site is safe for all workers and is seen that way by our community.
When the first nooses were found in June, EllisDon and MGH committed to eradicating anti-Black racism on this site. On Thursday, September 24th there was a further alleged incident, and then again on Friday, October 2nd a horrific racist message was photographed. These ongoing instances of hate have been deeply hurtful and traumatizing for our community.
We very much appreciate that you have taken steps to address this matter, however, as noted in your public statements, they are not yet working. This is also an unsafe jobsite as Black workers cannot rely on all of their brothers and sisters to “have their backs." As you already know, the onus is on you to ensure a safe site.
We know that you both abhor racism, but statements are not enough to eradicate it. We believe that you must immediately take further, more comprehensive measures to make the worksite safe.
Sincerely,
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