Editor:
My name is Jakub and I used to work in Canmore at Valbella Gourmet Foods as a food service supervisor. I am gay but I never felt discrimination while I worked there. Quite the contrary. They offered me a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) visa which I could not use because of the COVID-19 situation.
Honestly, I hope that I will find some way how to recover my visa and come back to this company because the friendly environment is recognizable from the door to the deli. The management tried to keep me in Canada as long as possible, but I had to go back to the Czech Republic.
The management and my coworkers never looked at me “through the fingers” because I have a different sexuality. They just appreciate that I am a good worker and nobody judged my personal life. The classics used to teach that to err is human and everybody will make mistakes. Valbella did one. But Valbella always had a friendly environment and makes Canmore more valuable because of their quality and delicious products.
I definitely stand for and with Valbella.
Jakub Švojgr,
Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
Former Canmore resident
