by Annette Ejiofor
The Black Canadian community is an essential sector to our city and yet are still widely, and exceedingly, marginalized and oppressed. The Black Canadian community brings vibrance, culture, change, innovation, and an alternative, but incredibly necessary voice, in waves of politics and change. Unfortunately, Black Canadians are not reaping the benefits for their true greatness in character, hard work, and ethics. For example, Blacks in Ottawa earn lower incomes and have higher levels of poverty. This was determined by thorough research done by the Social Planning Council Of ottawa with their report titled The Black Community Of Ottawa: An Analysis Of Socio-Economic Inequality Using The 2001 Census Data. In January 2015, Scott Gilmore of Macleans magazine wrote an article titled, Canada’s race problem? It’s even worse than America’s. In this article, it is clear the disparity between blacks and whites in Canada in terms of privilege and its benefits. Mr. Gilmore writes, “By almost every measurable indicator, the Aboriginal population in Canada is treated worse and lives with more hardship than the African-American population. All these facts tell us one thing: Canada has a race problem, too.” Black people in Ottawa need to unify and demand change. The key to achieving the change we the Black Canadian community wish to see, is to be present at the polls. According to Statistics Canada , in 2011 in Ottawa-Gatineau, Black Canadians accounted for 26.0% of the radicalized population. This would be 60,660 of 234,010, the total racialized population, making it greater than the combined Arab, Chinese, and South Asian, racialized population. Black Canadians are powerful in numbers in Ottawa and yet this is not represented at the polling stations. It is time for that to change.
The Black Votes Matter campaign was launched at the April 29th Second Annual African Canadian Summit in Toronto. Through this campaign, the African Canadian Summit were able to address three pillars: violence reduction, equity in outcomes, and good jobs in a changing economy. On Saturday, July 4th, at the Public Service Alliance Of Canada, organized by the Canadian Labour Congress and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, individuals from all backgrounds were welcomed to listen, speak and collaborate on ideas and ways to encourage the Black Ottawa community to vote. In addition to this, ways to develop inclusive campaigns which aim to reach out to the full diversity of Ottawa’s Black communities, and how to engage all political parties, were also discussed.
The session, co facilitated by Chelby Marie Daigle and Richard Gaboton, began with a welcoming message by Marie Clarke Walker – Executive Vice-President for the Canadian Labour Congress. Her welcoming message addressed the issues mentioned above regarding how many Blacks there are in Ottawa, who need serious and immediate change, and yet, they do not appear to vote. It was mentioned that from talking with some Blacks, even if they wanted to vote, their employers would not allow them. Although legally they are not allowed to be restricted from voting, employers have found a way to bypass this rule by threatening work termination if said employee were to miss work to vote. With such a poor economy and so many individuals looking for work, employers realize that finding a new employee would be as easy as firing one.
This session educated myself and those in attendance on the importance of not only voting but also on listening to the platforms of those one is voting for. Do not simply vote based on a label anymore. For example, Blacks in Ottawa would usually vote Liberal, but, the Liberal party supported Bill C-51, which goes against the stances most Blacks believe in. The session discussed how the Black youth in Ottawa are numerous, talented, and passionate, and how to channel those qualities towards political change.
We are the change we want to see. Blacks in Ottawa, it is time we rose up and demanded that change.
http://pridenews.ca/2015/06/25/black-votes-matter-campaign-ramps-up-for-general-election/
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-2/
About the writer
My name is Annette Ejiofor and I am an activist, singer, writer, belieber, and orange juice lover. I am a student at the University Of Ottawa. I believe in speaking up rather than sitting quietly and letting your moment to voice your opinions pass you by. I write from the heart and so every word stems from the pounding thud within my chest. If you don’t mind fifty thousand tweets per second, follow me on twitter and say hello. @annettesings01