Canmore's Valbella Gourmet Foods enacted measures to support LGBT people after former co-owner Jeff von Rotz made comments disparaging them. .“We are deeply sorry for the hurt we caused our community,” said Valbella Gourmet Foods in a Thursday statement. .“We know you expect action from us.” .Von Rotz was terminated on Tuesday after he wrote an email to Canmore Pride insulting the LGBT community. .READ MORE: Canmore deli co-owner fired for criticizing LGBT community.“The owners and leadership of Valbella Gourmet Foods expresses its deepest apologies to the Canmore LBGTQ+ community for an intolerant email that was sent earlier today by one of our former team members,” said Valbella co-owner Chantal von Rotz. .“The individual responsible has been removed from the company and its operations.”.Valbella said it started to reach out to the LGBT community to apologize. The deli has reached out to LGBT experts to implement better training and education. .Valbella went on to say it is doing a thorough review of internal policies and will be implementing a new equity, diversity, and inclusion policy in the coming weeks. It added it will be providing mental health supports to employees. .“Our priority is regaining the community’s trust,” it said. .“We are working on a more detailed plan focused on meaningful actions.” .Canmore Pride said it hopes people who wish to support them educate themselves to bring about change. .“When we ally, we stand up for 2SLGBTQ+ rights and call out harmful behaviour when we see it,” said Canmore Pride. .“Educate your loved ones, as not intervening can enable future harm to our community.”.Jeff von Rotz could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
