Don’t shy away from difficult conversations. Understand how systemic racism fosters overt racism, and be proactive about putting measures in place to remove discriminatory practices.

Those were some of the key messages discussed during a webinar presented by the Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) in which officials from EllisDon spoke about their experiences with acts of overt racism this summer, the lessons learned by senior leadership in the course of addressing these acts, and the steps the company took, and continues to take, to eradicate biases and make its workplaces as inclusive as possible.

Ontario’s construction industry was shaken in June when two nooses were found at the Michael Garron Hospital worksite in Toronto. There was no doubt the nooses had been strategically placed in areas of the site where Black employees were working, and the act caused EllisDon to not only take concrete steps to weed out the perpetrator but also take a critical look at its own practices and operations to make them free from discrimination.

EllisDon president and CEO Geoff Smith said he was stunned when the nooses were discovered at the hospital worksite. The incident caused him to ask others in racialized communities within the company about the size and scope of racism and discrimination in construction. He was shocked to learn about the extent to which overtly racist acts—such as the nooses—occur, as well as how deeply rooted systemic racism is within the industry.

Rather than covering up the incident with the nooses, EllisDon used it as a very public tool for acknowledging the problem of racism and discrimination in construction, and for demonstrating leadership on this important issue.

“We were relieved to see the arrest made in conjunction with this incident over the weekend,” said Smith. “It’s important to solve the crime, but the bigger issue is that there is a problem within our industry that needs to be solved.”

Samuel Ajobo, who chairs EllisDon’s Alliance for the Black Employee Experience and Leadership (ABEEL), said that the construction industry has been complacent in failing to address systemic racism. He said nooses and derogatory remarks aren’t new and that barriers remain to advancement for people of colour.

“Our work is just beginning,” agreed EllisDon’s head of inclusive diversity Jennifer Khan. “This doesn’t stop with the arrest of one man.”

In the hours and days after the nooses were discovered at the Michael Garron Hospital site, EllisDon took several key steps to ensure its workers were supported—from the point of view of both their physical safety and their mental wellbeing. That approach included beefing up site security, making the topic a prominent part of the work being done by worker trade committees, and opening up an anonymous reporting line for people who experienced racism of discrimination

"The key to all this is education,” said Khan. “What happened at our site isn’t just for EllisDon. We want to share our work and our thinking with anyone who wants to get involved. We want to raise the bar on anti-racism across Canada. Not just in construction.”

Part of that effort, Smith said, was making sure the right people were in place to lead the effort.

“We realize that this effort can’t be led by the old white guy in the corner office,” he said. “He needs to be educated about this issue. As CEO, I can provide support and resources, but that’s all. I need to take direction from people like Jennifer and Samuel. They’re our leaders on this.”

EllisDon has since put in place a number of groups and committees, such as ABEEL, to address issues around social injustice. These extend to the experiences of racialized groups, but also of those of all gender expressions. The groups meet regularly to discuss approaches and put in place real measures to affect change.

“I think there’s a feeling out there now that the next generation is empowered to take hold of this problem and solve it,” said Khan. “That’s just not true. Social injustice is centuries old. It won’t be solved in the short-term. Only meaningful, hard work and difficult conversations will start to chip away at it.”

EllisDon is drafting an industry pledge as well as language in its contracts with its construction site partners indicating its zero tolerance for discrimination—and its immediate responses to such acts. The aim, said Smith, is to show those responsible that the company will act swiftly and decisively when it sees such incidents.

“You have to treat racism and other such crimes on the same level as a physical crime,” said Ajobo. “They’re just as damaging.”

He added that the best approach is to create a workplace environment where perpetrators are made to feel uncomfortable about their aims.

“You have to be intentional about ensuring the equitable representation of all groups, and you have to keep this as a company culture,” he said. “The other key is to place an emphasis on validating the content of inclusive diversity training and programs regularly, and to keep having those difficult conversations about racism at every level.”

“Addressing overt racism is the easy thing to do here,” Smith concluded. “What’s harder is addressing the systemic racism that occurs. When that goes away, the overt racism stops, too.”