A Saanich mother who was asked to cover up while breastfeeding on a bus said she’ll halt her human-rights complaint only when she’s sure the incident won’t happen again.
Olena Russell was asked to cover up by a B.C. Transit driver on a bus in downtown Victoria more than three weeks ago. B.C. Transit says an apology is in the mail, and drivers have been told that breastfeeding is permitted on buses in accordance with the B.C. Human Rights Code.
But Russell said she’ll pursue a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal complaint process until she feels certain no similar incidents will happen.
Russell was breastfeeding her baby daughter, Kaia, when she got on to the bus, ahead of her husband. The driver told Russell’s husband that she needed to cover up.
In the discussion that followed, the driver said it was at his discretion whether Russell could breastfeed on the bus — something the stay-at-home mom said she knew wasn’t true thanks to her involvement with a breastfeeding and infant nutrition support group through La Leche League of Canada.
“I was really surprised, disappointed. I have two children and three years later, I’ve never had anybody say anything to me,” said Russell, who also has a three-year-old son, Kasian.
After getting off the bus, they walked for a few minutes before getting on a second bus. Russell said she was again breastfeeding, but this time the driver didn’t seem to mind.
The couple began filing a pair of complaints — first a letter to B.C. Transit, then an official complaint to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal that Russell said she’ll post Monday.
B.C. Transit spokeswoman Joanna Linsangan said the transit company received Russell’s letter on Wednesday and mailed out an apology Friday, along with a pair of bus passes for the month of August.
B.C. Transit has investigated the incident and issued a letter to all operators reminding them to abide by the Human Rights Code.
The code bars discrimination based on sex, which includes pregnancy and breastfeeding. This means mothers have a legal right to breastfeed in public places and makes asking them to cover up discriminatory, according to a Ministry of the Attorney General publication.
I was a breastfeeding mother and never even think people could tell. I always was very careful not to show anything if I was able to help it. Not because I was worried but my husband was weirded out by it for some reason, never did get over it. I wasn’t about to wear one of those capes either and have to have my baby’s face covered while she nursed. Breastfeeding is uncomfortable for people and that’s all it really boils down to. Not the fact that its a natural process that has been done forever!