Family, coworkers of slain Yellowknife taxi driver choose forgiveness

As Elias Schiller goes to prison for manslaughter, Yellowknife taxi drivers are choosing to forgive the young man who took their friend's life.

"We came up to the one conclusion," said Kareem Yalahow, vice-president of City Cab. "Uncle Ahmed is dead. We cannot bring him back. We might as well go ahead and forgive what happened, and forgive them, Elias and his dad."

Schiller, 19, was sentenced to four years on Tuesday for the beating death of City Cab driver Ahmed Mahamud Ali — known to friends and coworkers as "Uncle Ahmed." 

Schiller's father, James Schiller, was convicted of accessory to aggravated assault in connection with Ali's death. Both son and father pleaded guilty to their charges. 

Our industry is in trouble today.- Kareem Yalahow, vice-president of City Cab

Ali's death on the job in November 2018, sent waves of grief through Yellowknife's tight-knit Somali community. Most of the city's taxi drivers come from the same community in Somalia and share relations, said Yalahow. 

Though community members question whether four years in prison is enough, and if the court's decision will deter others from committing violence against taxi drivers, they are choosing "complete forgiveness," said Yalahow.

"And not grudge holding," he said. "The family and the community agreed."

Their compassion extends to the offenders' broader family, said Yalahow, who knows some of Schiller's relatives. 

He said Ali's family wants "Ahmed's blood to become a bridge to cross to each other, and forgive each other, and handshake each other, and open a new chapter of our life."

'We need protection'

But in the wake of Ali's death and Schiller's sentencing, taxi drivers are still waiting for the government to change regulations to make their jobs safer.

"Our industry is in trouble today," he said. "At night time, we are vulnerable. We are the front-line people. We're working all night taking people to hospital, or taking people from point A to point B to minimize the drunk driving."

"We are out there. We need protection."

Since Ali's body was found in a City Cab vehicle, abandoned in front of Stanton Territorial Hospital, Yellowknife taxi drivers have recounted stories of beatings and robberies while working.

Yalahow says one way to protect drivers is to enable them to take payment right at the start of a ride, rather than at the end of it.

"You're not going to fly and jump into an airplane and say, 'I'll pay [the fare] from the other side … if you go on a bus, you have to pay money up front," said Yalahow. "Only in our industry is when you have to pay later on, when you get to your destination."

'Forgive, be kind'

For now though, they practice forgiveness — it's what their religion teaches, said Yalahow, who is also on the executive committee of the Islamic Centre of Yellowknife.

"Sometimes the kindness and forgiveness could just solve problems where no jail time or … guilt plea would solve the problem," he said, adding that if the Schiller family would like to meet with his community, they would welcome them.

"Forgive, be kind, and things will change."