TORONTO -- A leading bureaucrat with the Region of Peel is speaking out about the “harassment and discrimination” of government employees over COVID-19 restrictions.
In a statement released on Monday, Peel Region’s Chief Administrative Officer Janice Baker said that employees who deal directly with the community are increasingly faced with harassment and discrimination, including racial slurs.
That harassment, she said, is taking placing both over the phone and in-person.
“Everyone wants our communities to go back to normal, but please, do not take out these frustrations on Peel’s employees who are working to keep our community safe,” she said. “The employees subjected to this harassment have been working extraordinary long hours for over a year, despite exhaustion and anxiety. At the very heart of their work is their unrelenting drive to keep the residents of Peel healthy and safe.”
In her statement, Baker conceded that residents are “tired, frustrated and concerned” amid a year-long pandemic that has shuttered many businesses and dramatically altered day-to-day life.
But she pointed out that the Region of Peel employees that are bearing the brunt of the harassment are also “juggling children at home and parents who need care” and want the pandemic to end just like everyone else.
“If you disagree with the Region’s policies, or the way we deliver our services, you can send your constructive feedback here. But please, don’t harass our employees,” she said. “The people bearing the brunt of this harassment are simply doing their jobs, carrying out the health and safety protocols of the Region’s response to COVID and doing their best to keep you safe.”
Peel Region has been under a lockdown since November 23, though retail stores were allowed to reopen with strict capacity limits last week after the province lifted the stay-at-home order that was in place in the community.
