When Thairu Taban and Josslyn Mounsey landed dispatcher jobs at Metrolinx in May 2019, it felt like everything was falling into place. 

Growing up in low-income Toronto neighbourhoods, they say they both listened to their mothers’ advice: stay away from crime, work hard in school, build a better life. 

Taban, 25, said that mantra is what motivated him as a boy to sit down and finish his homework every night on his own, while his mother was at work.

It’s what