TAN – The Afro News

John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition.

Through three decades of public service, and as Leader of Canada’s New Democrats from 2003-2011, Jack Layton dedicated his life to a building a better, fairer Canada. Read the full story

Flight Lieutenant George F. Clement Gander, Newfoundland, 1945. Graphics by TAN

“Try to remember …” It’s the first line of Tom Jones’ poignant reflection on passing years. “Try to remember…” More than an invitation it’s virtually a command to anybody wanting to live a fully realized life. Trying to remember is what victims of Alzheimer’s disease find increasingly hard to do until memories are gone and with them the person’s essence. Just a physical shell remains masquerading as the one we once knew. With memories gone the anchor of our sense of identity has no firm grip and we drift into an endless booming, buzzing present bereft of a self able to anticipate a future.

But memories can trap us in the past if our anchor becomes entangled in convoluted dark passages of our minds. “Yesterday will always be if I cannot cut it free,” another line from another song, (“Love is Waiting” by Vancouver musician Ross Barrett) warns of memory’s downside. When I was a tender and callow fellow would my first infatuation have become a true love it I’d been confident enough to speak my heart? Could my father and I have found a way to communicate more freely to express our mutual love? Will embarrassing childhood memories always rise up to assault me when I place a foot wrong as an adult? They will if I cannot find a way to accept my past, the good memories and the regrets, learn the lessons that life offers and move on.

What’s true of individuals is true of nations and on Remembrance Day, November 11, Canadians are given time to try to remember. Try to remember not just the tragedy and triumph of service men and women who risked their lives and who still risk their lives to defend national values of freedom and equality. Remember the obscenity of war itself. Any war is an indictment of humanity for sinking again to the savage brutality of raw violence. We can do better, we must do better but we never will rise up if we ignore both the noble and the painful truths of our past and fail to dedicate ourselves to a higher way of being.

I was born during World War II. I don’t remember those years of conflict but they put their stamp on my soul through the stresses and successes of my parents as they grappled with the challenges of their times. My father, the son of a furniture maker, dropped out of secondary school in the midst of the great depression to earn money to help support his family. When Canada declared war on Germany in September of 1939 he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force with an idea that he might “wash airplanes” and was surprised to find that he had a knack for flying. Graduating at the top of his flight school class he became a flight instructor training men who came to Canada from around the world to become pilots in the Battle of Britain and other theatres of war. After marrying my mother in early 1943 he applied for active service and was stationed in eastern Canada flying convoy patrol to protect allied shipping from Nazi submarine attack. It was dangerous flying: navigation over trackless ocean by dead reckoning; patrols in weather that would ground a civilian flight. Planes got lost, ran out of fuel and went down. He and his crew attacked one submarine and accepted the surrender of a Nazi U-boat in May, 1945, an operation for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Years later he wrote to me about the incident saying, “It was nice to receive a medal. However, over the years, whenever I think about the event I am very grateful that I did not have to strike. We were carrying a new and very sophisticated weapon that would have killed the sub and its crew without question. I am much happier with the memories I have.” After the war he used bursary money for veterans to complete secondary school and enroll in Medicine at the University of Western Ontario from which he graduated with his M.D in 1952. The high school drop-out who became a doctor finally found his niche in medicine when be became an anesthetist in 1961.

My parents have died. I miss them every day but speak with them in my memories. I have told their stories to my children and will do the same to my grandchildren. If they do not know where they come from they will not know who they are.

“A man is not dead as long as somebody remembers his name.” West African proverb.

(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.

The Afro NEWS New comprehensive study guide for Canadian citizenship

OTTAWA, ONTARIO – A new, more comprehensive study guide for Canadian citizenship was launched today by Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney. Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship includes information on common values such as freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and the equality of men and women. It promotes to immigrants and Canadian citizens alike a greater understanding of Canada’s history, values, symbols and important Canadian institutions, such as Parliament and the Crown. It also highlights the contribution of ethnic and cultural communities in shaping our Canadian identity and the sacrifices made by Canada’s veterans for our country.

“People come from all over the world to seek Canadian citizenship. It is highly valued,” said Minister Kenney. “We expect people who want to become Canadians to have a good understanding of their rights and responsibilities, and the values and institutions that are rooted in Canada’s history. By strengthening the guide, we are increasing the value of Canadian citizenship.”In developing the study guide, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) consulted with a panel of prominent Canadians, including public figures, authors and historians. The new guide has also been reviewed by well-known organizations involved in citizenship promotion, such as the Historica-Dominion Institute, the Association of Francophone and Acadian Communities and the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.

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