Giant Tiger worker suspended for following Indigenous customer

A Giant Tiger employee has been suspended and the retailer has apologized after a video spread online shows an Indigenous customer being followed around a north Regina location on Thursday.

In the video, Ezekial Bigknife is seen picking up groceries and pointing out that the same undercover employee trails behind him each time he shops there.

“I just got so sick of it — so sick of putting up with that and being followed around and stuff. I just wanted to record it to show people what I was going through and what’s been happening,” said Bigknife.

The young father added he and his family live a block away and are frequent shoppers. Since the beginning of October, Bigknife said they’ve been followed around a total of seven times.

“I think it’s just a racial thing because there were plenty of other people he could have followed — I don’t know why he would have just followed me and singled out me every time I go there,” Bigknife explained.

“It feels like I’m doing something wrong when I know I’m not. I shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable when I’m shopping at a public establishment.”

According to Bigknife, a spokesperson for Giant Tiger apologized both verbally and in writing since the final incident. However, now he’s asking for an apology and “better training” from the Avonhurst Drive location.

“They need to train their loss prevention workers to be more discreet and not single out somebody that’s a regular customer,” he said.

In a news release published on Saturday, Giant Tiger said they’re aware of the situation. The statement read that “the video in question is a direct contradiction of our brand values as well as our policies and should never have occurred.”

It added that the employee in video has been suspended while they investigate the incident. However, Bigknife doesn’t believe that’s sufficient.

“Who’s to say when he gets back on his job he’s not going to do that to someone else and make them feel the same way? I feel as though he should lose his job over this incident because nobody should have to go through that.”

Bigknife said he’s expecting an update from Giant Tiger on the status of the investigation on Monday.