Two more nooses have been discovered on a hospital construction project on the east end of Toronto, continuing a string of such incidents on job sites across the city this summer.
Michael Garron Hospital and general contractor EllisDon confirmed and condemned the findings Sept. 24.
“These individuals are unfortunately comfortable in the knowledge that on a heavily populated and constantly changing construction site, they will be hard to identify,” Geoff Smith, president and CEO of EllisDon, said in a release. “But I want to send a clear message: We will not stop until you are found, charged and permanently evicted from our industry.”
In June, two nooses were found at the same job site. It was the first of four locations where the hate symbols were found in June and July.
The contractor and Michael Garron Hospital said they will work with Toronto Police Service on identifying the those responsible.
The recurrence follows numerous steps taken by EllisDon and the wider industry to address anti-Black racism since the first noose appeared on-site this summer. In July a member of Carpenters Local 27 was forced to resign after one of the incidents on a Crosstown LRT job site.
In a statement regarding the most recent incident, EllisDon noted it is working with its subcontractors and unions on both short- and long-term steps to address racism in construction and “root it out wherever it lies.”
“This will take time and sustained effort by many people, but we have already begun, and we will succeed,” Smith said.
