Washing ceremony marks settlement of Canadian Tire racial profiling complaint

VANCOUVER — The sounds of Indigenous drums and song bounced off the walls of an East Vancouver banquet hall Tuesday evening as members of British Columbia’s Heiltsuk Nation gathered for a traditional washing ceremony years in the making.

Dawn Wilson and her father Richard filed a human rights complaint against Canadian Tire and security company Blackbird Security over a racial profiling incident at a store in Coquitlam.

Canadian Tire acknowledged its former employee contravened the human rights code against racial profiling and discrimination when they searched Richard Wilson’s bag in 2020.

The ceremony, held at the Croatian Cultural Centre on Commercial Drive, drew dozens to take part in the cultural healing process. Dawn Wilson thanked representatives of both companies for showing up.

“We wholeheartedly forgive everything that’s been done and are so thankful that you are here in this beautiful way to let this go with us,” she said. “I feel lighter and I hope that you do too.”

James Prescott, a vice president with Canadian Tire, called the incident “deeply regrettable.”

“On behalf of everybody at Canadian Tire, we are deeply sorry for what happened,” Prescott said.

Store owner Paul Droulis said it was “my store, my responsibility, my embarrassment.”

“From the bottom of my heart, I want to apologize because that is not how we treat our clients, it’s not how we treat our friends, it’s now how we treat people,” Droulis said.

Representatives of Canadian Tire and Blackbird Security were then wrapped in blankets and took part in a dance as part of the ceremony, circling the banquet hall floor to the rhythm of drums and singing.

Dawn Wilson said in an interview she’s relieved the case has been settled and hopes it will help others avoid the same thing.

The store itself admitted a former employee made derogatory comments when told about what happened, and Canadian Tire Corp. acknowledges it did not forward a complaint to the Coquitlam store for weeks — only doing so after the employee no longer worked there.

The traditional Heiltsuk washing ceremony is a form of restorative justice that acknowledges the harm of racial profiling.

Maria Martin with the Heiltsuk Tribal Council told those gathered that the “harm went beyond the moment” of the confrontation at the store.

“It’s part of a broader pattern of racial profiling and disrespect that Heiltsuk and other Indigenous people face in everyday life,” she said. “Dawn and Richard brought a human rights complaint not just for themselves, but for all Heiltsuk and other Indigenous members who live with this indignity far too often.”

As part of the settlement, Canadian Tire agreed to implement more training on Indigenous stereotypes and racial profiling, and review its complaint process to make sure it has distinct steps to address discrimination allegations.

The settlement includes confidential financial compensation, a portion of which Dawn Wilson says she will donate to the Union of BC Indian Chiefs to commission a study into the problem of Indigenous consumer racial profiling in Canada.

The store and the security company have agreed that any loss prevention measures will have objective, race-neutral criteria. They will implement training on discrimination and unconscious bias, and collect data on discrimination complaints.

Dawn Wilson said she and her dad faced hurdles for years as they tried to get someone to listen to them about their complaint.

She said it shows the need for wholesale change.

“This was a systemic issue, so we wanted systemic change. Something that’s not just going to happen for my Dad and I, but for anybody coming after us, and that’s what we feel like happened,” she said in an interview.

“There were a lot of different things that happened in the settlement, and it seems like it’s a very holistic approach to tackle some of these really big issues.”

The pair, who are members of the Heiltsuk Nation, were shopping at the store when a security guard publicly searched Richard Wilson’s bag.

When Dawn Wilson raised concerns, a store employee said his father “taught him the difference between an Indian and a native: an Indian comes from the reserve and begs and steals.”

The human rights complaint was scheduled to be heard in October.

The washing ceremony Tuesday was based on an Indigenous concept “to turn things around and make things right again.”

Dawn Wilson said the idea of the public ceremony is to validate what happened and physically let go of pain and hurt.

“‘I’m actually really happy that it’s happening. I think it’s amazing that Blackbird and Canadian Tire have agreed to this, and I wholeheartedly accept their apology,” she said.

As part of the human rights complaint, the Heiltsuk Nation commissioned a report on consumer racial profiling, which in part called for more study of the issue.

Dawn Wilson said it’s important some of the settlement money go to a larger study so there’s more data for others to lean on.

“They may not have as much support as we did from Heiltsuk Tribal Council, and we just want to make sure that they have something to help them with this, because it can be an incredibly harmful process when you’re already feeling harmed,” she said.

She said they wanted to take as much pressure off complainants as possible to help them feel supported.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2026.

Ashley Joannou and Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press