Via Rail has apologized and says it’s investigating after a video of an employee telling a Muslim man not to pray at its Ottawa station circulated online.
The video on TikTok appears to show a Via Rail employee telling a man that he cannot pray at the station and he should go outside if he wants to pray.
Via Rail says it apologizes unreservedly to the man and to the entire Muslim community.
@a.p416 Part 2. Obviously a lot of this whole situation wasn’t recorded. He said dont pray here. And said im gonna complain to your employer right now, and went into an office. By then a bunch of people came to check on me and said don’t mind him, this isn’t ottawa.. we apologize keep doing your thing you’re not bothering anyone It was just a disrespectful, racist and awful situation to be apart of, and I hope nobody has to deal with anything like this. It was disgusting to say the very least. How can this stuff be happening in my home country canada… not the states… CANADA #ottawa #viarail #racismneedstostop #islamophia ♬ original sound – A.P
It says it is taking what happened “very seriously” and an investigation is ongoing.
The corporation says it will take “appropriate actions” following the investigation.
Via Rail is a Crown corporation that operates passenger rail service across the country.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2023.
