Elder ousted from mall wants action before accepting apology

Gary Moostoos, respected Elder and social worker with Boyle Street Community Services, says an apology needs action in order to be accepted.

“I have always been taught that in order to apologize to someone you have to make amends first. ‘I’m sorry’ is very, very easily said, but in my culture when someone does something wrong to someone else they need to regain the respect and trust from that person. I need to see things done before I could even look at the apology,” he said.

Moostoos and around 300 supporters crowded near the food court of the mall on Nov. 8 for a public apology delivered by City Centre Mall General Manager Olympia Trencevski. Moostoos accepted tobacco from her on behalf of the larger community but “I did not accept it on my own behalf because I am not in any place to do that yet.”

“I want to look into your eyes and I want to tell you from my heart to yours, I sincerely apologize for hurting your feelings and I’m sorry for what happened to you. It was unacceptable, it was a mistake, and I’m sorry. I also want to say sorry to the community at large for feeling the pain,” said Trencevski.

Moostoos was removed and banned from City Centre Mall and all downtown Oxford Property by security on Oct. 27. He recorded the incident on his cell phone. Trencevski says the security officers who took the action will no longer provide services at any Oxford building.

Trencevski emphasizes that what happened to Moostoos does not reflect the values of the company. “We have in place policies prohibiting discrimination, train our staff to comply with these policies, and expect that they will do so. Nevertheless, in light of recent events, we are taking appropriate action to make sure that our staff and service providers fully understand and comply with our policies.”

City Centre Mall has accepted Mayor Don Iveson’s offer to have front-line staff take advantage of the city’s cultural sensitivity training, she says. Already the senior management team has participated in the Aboriginal awareness internal session provided by the city and an Aboriginal cross culture workshop hosted by the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce.

The apology was originally organized as a flash mob round dance to support Moostoos, but changed to a ceremony when he agreed to hear the apology. Organizer and Elder Taz Bouchier, who is active with Idle No More, insisted Trencevski also apologize to the next generation. 

“I’m sorry if you felt any pain, any agony for what happened to Mr. Moostoos. I’m sorry about that. My doors are always open. I’m sorry,” Trencevski said to a Native youth in attendance.

The apology came directly from Trencevski because “as the general manager of Edmonton City Centre, I speak for the entire property and it was important to me that Mr. Moostoos understood that the apology to him was on behalf of everyone at the Edmonton City Centre and that he was welcome to attend the mall.”

Photo caption: (From left) Elders Gary Moostoos and Taz Bouchier with City Centre Mall General Manager Olympia Trencevski during the flash-mob-turned-public-apology at the downtown mall.