First Nations man wants apology after being flagged as shoplifter, asked to leave Canadian Tire store
CBC
A First Nations man is calling for an apology from Canadian Tire after he says he was flagged by a camera for allegedly stealing months earlier — something he maintains he never did.
Josh Soika said he went into the Canadian Tire Grant Park location in Winnipeg with his girlfriend on Oct. 8 to buy tire plugs and an air compressor for his work truck.
Soika, 31, said his girlfriend Courtney Settee noticed a security guard staring at them from down the empty aisle with two employees, which he thought was unusual.
"We went and walked past him, and they stopped us and they said there was an incident back in the summer where I was caught stealing stuff on camera and so they pretty much said I could buy what I had in my hands and we had to get out," Soika said.
Soika said he heard the store staff say "the camera flagged me when I walked in the store as a shoplifter."
The company has not responded to repeated requests for comment over the last week.
WATCH | Courtney Settee starts filming after boyfriend is asked to leave Canadian Tire store:
Canadian Tire told CTV News Winnipeg in 2019 it was using facial recognition technology in six of its seven Winnipeg stores for loss prevention. The company didn't specify which stores were using the software. It's not clear if the Grant Park location uses the controversial technology.
A sign on the front door of the Winnipeg store alerts customers to the fact surveillance cameras are in place. It makes no mention of facial recognition software, which is controversial due to privacy concerns, misidentification and issues with accuracy specifically with non-white skin.
"In many cases it doesn't work as well on Black faces. It doesn't work as well on Indigenous faces. It doesn't work as well on faces that are brown or female or young," said Dr. Brenda McPhail, the director of the privacy, technology and surveillance program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
In an interview from Toronto, McPhail said the CCLA has been advocating for a moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology for some time.
Last year, the association published a report on facial recognition technology. The research cited reports that Canadian Tire had been known to use the technology in at least two stores since as early as 2010.
A four-page case study on the technology, uploaded by the Guardian in 2016, details how Canadian Tire was trying to combat theft and fraud.
The document quotes a Toronto Canadian Tire franchise owner saying it allows the retailer to catch three to five thieves a week.
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