Godwin Ifedi Editor
Godwin Ifedi
Editor

Good morning all

We remember all mothers’ in this special Mothers’ Day edition. I cannot however observe this important event without paying tribute to my soul-mate, wife and mother of my children, Joy, as she recovers in hospital from a serous illness. Happy Mothers’ Day honey; you’re one in a million!

In keeping with this theme, we’ve made a very special mother our Top Story for the month. Peggy Taillon is a white single mother who fell in love with an African baby on a visit to Kenya, and jumped through incredible hoops to legally adopt him. Peggy and Devlin – An African Love Story is a must-read in this edition of your favourite community news magazine. Another special mother, Sazini Nzula, brings our readers a rare insight into the world of autism, detailing her struggles, challenges and successes in raising her two children afflicted with this apparently intractable disorder. Her compelling story  is real food for  thought for all parents and prospective parents, as her struggles and challenges reflect similar ones endured by parents of children with special needs and a plea for more understanding from our community and for more resources from various levels of government to support these vulnerable children.

We present a new feature ” Building Resilient Carees”. Written by employment coach and career specialist Dr. Helen Ofosu, this column is for those re-positioning their careers or companies in search of solutions to creating a healthy and productive work environment.

Our personal profile features another great community activist. Kike Ojo is a champion of black children in care, a sector in which people of African descent appear to over-represented compared to our population. The Black Lives Matter movement takes centre stage in our report on their unexpected and unplanned public meeting with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, following the Toronto police shooting of Wayne Todd. Former RCMP officer weighs in with his piece on how and when police can justly use firearms against civilians.  Allegations of racial profiling and targeting of people of colour by law enforcement agencies is not one that will go away anytime soon. Along the same lines, we bring you another troubling statistic: Black people are over represented in Canada’s jails, in comparison with our population. Read the piece: “Blacks have an incarceration problem”, and send us your thoughts on how we can individually and collectively address this problem.

This month’s community organisation profile features the Nigerian-Canadian Association Ottawa, one of the oldest community associations in the national capital. We urge leaders of similar organisations in Ottawa to send us their profiles so we can help promote the great work they are doing to make Ottawa a great place to live in.

Remember to take part in the May 2016 poll survey about the Uber taxi controversy. Here is the result of the March poll survey:

Claims of low morale among the rank and file of the Ottawa Police have been reported in the media. Do you think this will affect the ability of the Police to serve and protect the residents of Ottawa?

Yes 75%

No 25%

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy month of May.

Godwin Ifedi

Editor