Godwin Ifedi Editor
Godwin Ifedi
Editor

Good morning all

Happy Canada Day to all our readers! Today, we acknowledge this great country that we now call home, one that has been as welcoming as it has been hospitable. True, it is not perfect but we owe it to ourselves and our children to strive to make it a country that we can all be proud of.

Here is what we have to offer for the July edition. Top Story is the honour conferred to our own June Girvan and Denise Siele in being listed in the landmark book: 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women. We have always acknowledged the leadership and community engagement of these two stalwarts but to be immortalised in a book, is something special. Our congratulations to them. Speaking of accolades, we feature Nigerian-born Professor Josephine Etowa who was listed among the top 25 immigrants in Canada for 2016. What an honour!. Another honour goes to Chikezirim Nwakanma who received the prestigious Diversity and Inclusion award from the City of Ottawa.

What would Ottawa’s annual Race Weekend be without African athletes? Once again they shone with most of the top two or three place finishes.  On the social front we feature Igbo Women’s celebration of Mothers’ Day, plus the sell-out performance of visiting Sudanese singer and activist Abuaraki Albakhit. Parliamentary Poet laureate George Elliot Clarke was hosted by Cathedral Arts and our reporter MacAndrew Clarke (no relation) brings us feedback from this illustrious event. Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Celina Ceasar-Chavannes, was special guest at a breakfast organised by the Network of Black Professional and Business Women.

Our Youth In Action section continues to grow strong, this time with an article on feminism by Illili Ahmed. Sad news from the Obituary section with the passing of Nigeria’s highly popular former High Commissioner to Canada, Chief Ojo Madueke and Barbados -born Canadian author Austin Clarke.

We continue our community profiles with the Ghana Association of Ottawa. In the Interview section we carry the conversation with slam poetry champion Brandon Witt.

Don’t forget to take part in our poll survey for July on your favourite summer past-time.

Here is the result of the June poll/survey:

What would you do, if you discovered that convicted serial murderer Karla Homolka, was living in your neighbourhod with her husband and three young children?

Keep your family, especially your kids, away from them: 67%, 

Move out of the neighbourhood: 33%,

Accept them since she already paid her debt via her 12-year prison sentence: 0%

All these and more in the July 2016 edition. Enjoy!

Godwin Ifedi

Editor