TAN – The Afro News

Glyn Townson Chair of B.C Persons AIDS Society

By Ryan Mitchell The Afro News Vancouver ;Interviewed: Chair of B.C Persons AIDS Society, Glyn Townson

It has been thirty years since the AIDS pandemic hit the mainstream media, but many communities including ones in the Lower Mainland, have neglected the issue since the virus has slowly dropped from news headlines. The question is why has the public shut down the dialogue?

The Public Health Agency of Canada reports the most common spread of infection for the black community is through heterosexual contact. To address this issue, Chair of B.C Persons AIDS Society, Glyn Townson shares insight into why many people might not be having the conversation.“Part of the issue is that when it first showed up in [North America], it affected very specific populations, and that attached a lot of stigma, unfortunately [producing] misinformation about HIV.” Rumours surrounding circumstances of how people obtain HIV scared most, and made people almost reluctant to openly chat. “We have fallen off the radar, for the most part, there was a little bit of news about the International AIDS conference in 2006, but generally the population isn’t talking about HIV a lot.” The cultural stigma of the pandemic created stereotypes and have alienated groups.

Townson states a growing trend of foreigners who were documented as HIV negative in their home country who became HIV positive in Canada. “It is a challenge to see citizens who leave their home country HIV negative, and they come here and become HIV positive. People think once they are here, they are safe, away from a pandemic country but when you come to a new place you are looking for things that are familiar, and you tend to surround yourself with familiar things and sometimes that can be problematic.” Glyn Townson stresses the subject of HIV is not on a distant continent, but a concern that is in local neighbourhoods.

He point outs the community stigma contributes to the lack of information about the virus, leading many people to participate in risky behaviour without taking precautions in protecting themselves. He notes Churches that are educating young people about safe sex methods and cautioning that it is a local problem, not something that is only bound for specific type of people. “We want to engage people in the conversation, around their own health, around their own settings, and find ways we can help.”

Treatment has drastically changed in the past few decades, first generation medications that were highly toxic have been replaced by medications that improve the quality of life, in certain cases to an extent of someone who is not HIV positive. However, Townson says in all cases, the diagnosis has to be discovered in the early stages of infection in order for the medication to work to its full potential.

The Chairman emphasizes how education can keep people safe. “What we would like to tell people is that if you have partaken in risky activities like: unprotected anal or vaginal sex, used shared needles or shared any drug paraphernalia, you have to know the formula on how to get [HIV]. Once you know the proper and accurate information you can protect yourself.”

Members of the B.C AIDS Society encourage dialogue to start again and continue, especially in visible minority groups. Many from an ethnic background who have the condition are afraid to speak out due to the response from their communities; Townson warns ignoring the issue is dangerous, especially in communities where it is not heavily present. “We are seeing a ‘creepage’ into different populations, where it wasn’t before. It means our prevention messages are not getting out there and [it] also means people still have the attitude of ‘that is not going to affect me.’ The reality is: if someone has had unprotected sex with someone they don’t know the history of, there is a potential [of receiving HIV]. People have to be aware of the situation. “

He mentions he does not want to scare anyone; however it is critical to embrace the issue among all sub populations and communities. “We want to involve people into the discussion because HIV is entirely preventable, but it is a matter of getting through that stigma, and also getting through those barriers, and being able to talk about things that people may not be comfortable with.” Although there is still no cure for HIV or a vaccine that exists to prevent the virus, Townson notes treatments have significantly changed in the past few decades and one who lives with HIV can still lead a healthy full life.

The Public Health Agency of Canada statistics  www.avert.org/canada-aids.htm

(left to right) Speaker Noel Kinsella, Senator Mobina Jaffer, and Senator Donald Oliver

By:the Honourable Mobina S.B. Jaffer, Q.C. Senator for British Columbia

My professional career has taken me to many different parts of the world, and has exposed me to the many challenges, and at the same time, the great beauty this world has to offer. I have also had the privilege to meet many people who are doing their part to make this world an inclusive environment, where populations are not scared by the differences in each other, but instead are curious about them…and in the end, enriched through shared experiences.

Along the way, I have also had the pleasure to work with individuals who are greatly committed to the issues we face together. Perhaps a common bond between those who advocate for a cause is their desire to create opportunity in our society.

During their careers, Speaker Noel Kinsella, and Senator Donald Oliver have served all Canadians with distinction. And through our working together, I have come to know just how important creating opportunity is to both Senators.

Speaker Kinsella – who has served as Speaker of the Senate since 2006 – has had a distinguished career in humanitarian work, and has been a champion of diversity and human rights. Beginning in 1967, Speaker Kinsella served as Chairperson of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission, where he served for 22 years. As Chair of the Atlantic Humans Rights Centre, Speaker Kinsella played an integral role in expanding the resources of the Centre, helping to further its mandate to undertake, encourage and facilitate research in the fields of citizenship and human rights.

Presently, Speaker Kinsella is a member of the Advisory Council of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights – which will open its doors to the public in 2012, and makes its home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Museum – the only national museum located outside of Ottawa, Ontario – will give visitors a detailed view into the progression of human rights in Canada and elsewhere in the world.

When we think about our great country, there are many things of which Canadians can be proud. One such trait is the diversity of people we live and work amongst. For multiculturalism is Canada’s badge to wear proudly.

Throughout his life and professional career, Senator Oliver has continually promoted the importance of the study of Canadian black history and culture. Through his advocacy to fund a Chair on Canadian Black Studies at Dalhousie University, and also while serving on the Advisory Board for the Indigenous Black and Mik’Maq Program at Dalhousie Law School, Senator Oliver has spoken widely of the enduring contributions of black Canadians to our society.

In a paper delivered to the “Multiple Lenses: Voices from the Diaspora located in Canada” Conference, in Halifax, he noted that:

“For more than 400 years, Blacks have been an integral part of the warp and weave of Canadian society and Canada’s economy. For example, as an interpreter between the French and the Mik’Maq people in the early 1600s, Mathieu de Costa undoubtedly played a role in developing the fur-trade industry along the Atlantic seacoast. But, de Costa was a free man. Those who came after him, enslaved and brutally exploited during the largest shift of population that the world has ever seen, played no less an important role in shaping our country.”

Senator Oliver has also worked tirelessly to ensure that the Province of Nova Scotia play a role in officially recognizing the cultural contribution of its population. His work in this area lead to the creation of the Centre for Black Culture – an organization which opened on September 17, 1983 – which exists to promote the great history and legacy of Black Canadians in Nova Scotia.

Through its facilitation of cultural portrayals in the form of music, plays, concerts, as well as educational activities in the form of workshops, lectures and guided tours, the Centre is a window into over 400 years of black history in Nova Scotia.

However, Senator Oliver’s work on Canadian black history and culture is but one area of his interest in diversity in Canada. Senator Oliver is not only concerned with affording diversity a place in society, he also concerned with creating space for diversity in society.

Senator Oliver’s work on the issue of employment equity is a testament to this drive to create necessary space for diversity.

In 2006-2007, when the Public Service Commission’s annual report revealed that Canada’s public service was not a true reflection of our diversity, Senator Oliver challenged us in this chamber to think about whom our Public service will hire a decade from now. When those testifying before the National Finance Committee shared their concern that certain provisions of the Public Service Employment Act were not being used, Senator Oliver challenged us to think about what he called “make-it-happen” policies that would positively affect the hiring strategies of Canada’s public service.

This past February – which was also Black History Month – Senator Oliver addressed the issue of employment equity in the Federal Public Service to the Employment Equity and Diversity Advisory Committee of the Supreme Court of Canada.

During this speech, Senator Oliver pointed out that the Federal Public Service has an important role to play in setting an example for other employers, by maintaining the standards of diversity in its hiring practices. He noted that:

“The public service should and must set the standard for all employers: it is Canada’s largest employer, with 255,000 employees; it is Canada’s most national employer, with 1600 points of services across the country; and it is Canada’s most international employer with staff in more than 150 countries.”

He also noted that by 2017, members of the visible minority community could account for roughly one-fifth of the total population of Canada – echoing the necessity of the public service to make the changes needed to ensure the changing faces of Canada’s workforce are able to seek opportunities to better themselves, both professional and personally.

Where the view exists that such diversity is perhaps a threat, Senator Oliver reminds us that diversity is an extension of national wealth, and he has continually reminded us of the importance of embracing that diversity through the creation and facilitation of opportunity.

For their continuing efforts to promote cultural heritage, and for their invaluable advocacy of greater opportunities for visible minorities and humans rights, Speaker Kinsella and Senator Oliver can only be known as true champions of diversity and human rights.