OC Transpo bus driver 'super courageous' for defending woman in niqab from taunts

An Ottawa bus driver insists he's no hero for coming to the defence of a student wearing a niqab after another passenger yelled Islamophobic taunts at her.

Hailey DeJong, a convert to Islam who started wearing a niqab in the fall of2015, told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning on Tuesday that she hopped onto a No. 118 OC Transpobus on May 12 to do some shopping at the downtownRideau Centre mall.

Moments after sitting down near the front of the bus, a man behind her started saying hurtful things.

... He just continued calling me a terrorist and a freak, and at one point he even screamed at me to assimilate.- Hailey DeJong, University of Ottawa student

"He was making comments like, 'Oh, she could be a bank robber and we don't even know,'" DeJongrecalled.

"At that point, I was tired of the attentionand I turned around and I said to him, 'If you have something to say, don't say it to the other passengers, say it right to me.'"

But the man didn't stop.

"After that, he just continued calling me a terrorist and a freak, and at one point he even screamed at me to assimilate," she said. "I was angry, but you can't respond to hate with more hate, so I tried to keep it cool and just to explain to him. Other passengers at that point had started to speak up as well."

A few moments later, OC Transpo bus driver Alain Charetteparked the bus and came to her defence, saying he had called authorities.

Driver says he's no hero, student says she's 'so thankful'

8 years ago

Duration 0:36

OC Transpo bus driver Alain Charette says he's no hero after student Hailey DeJong was harassed on his bus and he put a stop to it.

Driver stops bus, shouts words of support

"At one point, I heard [the driver]shout from the front of the bus, 'Hey, if you have a problem with her, then you have a problem with me.' So that got the man's attention and he started to get out of his seat," DeJong said.

Charette told CBC News on Tuesday he wasn't going to move the bus until the situation was resolved.

"I presented to him that it's eitheryou leaveor wait for security, but something's going to happen," he said. "Help is on the way, but in the meantime, leave the lady alone."

The man told the driver there was no problem, that he loves Christians and Muslims and Jews, and that he was getting off the busanyway.

At one point I heard [the driver]shout from the front of the bus, 'Hey, if you have a problem with her, then you have a problem with me.'- Hailey DeJong

DeJongtook a selfie with Charettebefore getting off the bus later on,and said shewas motivated to write a public letter to thank him andraise awareness about Islamophobia in the community.

"It didn't bother me at first, but after I got home, I guess the shock kind of started to set in, because I've never had this really happen to me before.I went months with just doing my thing, going to school, nothing ever happened, riding the bus safely. And so afterwards I started to feel a bit of anxiety and I still do every time I think about it and what happened," she said.

"I really thought the bus driver deserved to be rewarded, because it's often so easy to just ignore it, to let the situation take care of itself, but he really stood up and did what needed to be done."

Charette says heshouldn't be getting so much praise.

"I'm no hero. It's just like a day-to-day thing. When it does happen, well, you deal with it," he said.

"You pay the fare to get a ride. Why should you feel threatened or harassed or have to justify your way of dressing? That has nothing to do with the ride. That's it."

DeJong wrote thepiece for Muslim Link, an online publication in Ottawa.

She added: "... I just told him what it meant to me and what it means to our community because Islamophobia is such a problem."

Charette found the article and posted a response on Muslim Link and his Facebookpage, saying he has been "overwhelmed by all the attention" and that sitting idle was"not an option."

DeJong hopes to be able to meet him in person again to say thank you one more time.

"Hopefully I'll get to see him soon. ...I think it's incredibly sweet. Like he said, 'If you're not helping then you're part of the problem, you're just a bystander.' And I think what he did was super courageous and I can't thank him enough. And his comment is honestly so sweet. It touches my heart."