‘Disappointing’ cabinet picks show Trudeau still needs to address diversity ‘blind spot’, say advocates

‘Disappointing’ cabinet picks show Trudeau still needs to address diversity ‘blind spot’, say advocates

BY SAMANTHA WRIGHT ALLEN | PUBLISHED IN The Hill Times | PUBLISHED ON NOV. 27, 2019
 
‘Please pay attention to the blind spot that you said was created by your privilege and do something to correct it,’ Celina Caesar-Chavannes asks the prime minister.
 
 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new cabinet of 37 has seven members who are visible minorities and one Métis MP, which advocates say is not enough to address diversity concerns. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade, illustration by Serena Masonde
 

The latest cabinet picks were disappointing for some advocates of better representation for racialized Canadians in positions of power, including former Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes who offered a plea to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to demonstrate he is correcting an admitted blind spot.

READ MORE In The Hill Times

What women care most about in this election, and how the parties stack up

What women care most about in this election, and how the parties stack up

BY National Online Journalist, Smart Living Global News | PUBLISHED BY Global News | PUBLISHED ON October 20, 2019
 
 

Winning the Canadian female vote – Part 1: Healthcare

While “women’s issues” should be everybody’s issues, experts say, there are certain matters that disproportionately affect women.

From a lack of affordable child care to higher rates of gender-based violence, the upcoming federal election highlights some of these problems — and the demand for policy-based solutions.

READ MORE On Global News

OPINION: In this election, what’s a black voter to do?

OPINION: In this election, what’s a black voter to do?

WRITTEN BY Vicky Mochama |  PUBLISHED IN The Globe and Mail | PUBLISHED ON October 19, 2019 |  UPDATED ON October 21, 2019Vicky Mochama is a Toronto-based writer and host of the Safe Space podcast. 

Black communities have always been part of Canada, but you wouldn’t know it at election time, when the unique challenges they face are ignored

One afternoon in June, earlier this year, the mayor of the country’s largest city, the Premier of its most populous province and the Prime Minister of Canada found themselves unexpectedly sharing a stage together in downtown Toronto. They – along with an estimated two million fans from throughout the city – had come together to pay tribute to a group of young (and mostly black) men.

Four days prior, the Toronto Raptors had defeated the Golden State Warriors for the NBA championship, leading to a national outpouring of pride and joy. The Raptors possessed an incandescent quality, and a rare one: They were Canadian and cool, two words that don’t usually come together unless you’re talking about the weather. For the Prime Minister, the election loomed, and for the others, it was a rare moment in political life: a captive audience with a deep well of goodwill. Of course politicians wanted to be associated with the Raptors.

READ MORE In The Globe and Mail

Operation Black Vote comes to Queen’s ahead of federal election

Operation Black Vote comes to Queen’s ahead of federal election

WRITTEN BY Rebecca Lourenco | PUBLISHED BY The Queen’s University Journal | PUBLISHED ON September 20, 2019

African Caribbean Students’ Association first university organization to co-host event

The African Caribbean Students’ Association (ACSA) at Queen’s was the first university-organization in Canada to co-host Operation Black Vote.

On Sept. 18, Operation Black Vote (OBV) visited campus to discuss the importance of diversity in politics and the impact of voting. The organization’s aim is to educate, promote, and support Black Canadians’ participation in the political process at all levels.

Trevor Gooden, the group’s director of campus outreach, said the goal of OBV is also to help Black students become involved in voting in Canada.

“Increasingly, we are becoming a voting block that can get things done,” he said.

Gooden encouraged students to look at issues that will directly affect them and take those into consideration when voting. “We’re going to graduate soon into a really expensive country and a really expensive economy,” he said.

READ MORE In The Queen’s University Journal

Toronto activist calling on federal parties to nominate more black candidates

Toronto activist calling on federal parties to nominate more black candidates

WRITTEN BY THE CANADIAN PRESS
PUBLISHED IN The Princeton Western News |  PUBLISHED ON Aug. 17, 2019 10:20 a.m.
PUBLISHED IN The National Post | PUBLISHED ON Aug. 16, 2019 1:20 p.m.
 

Fewer than 20 black Canadians have been nominated so far, including some Liberal MPs seeking re-election

A Toronto-based activist is calling on Canada’s political parties to nominate more black candidates in winnable ridings in this fall’s federal election in order to enhance the chances the community is better represented in the next Parliament.

Fewer than 20 black Canadians have been nominated so far, including a handful of Liberal MPs who are seeking re-election, said Velma Morgan, the chair of Operation Black Vote Canada, a not-for-profit, multi-partisan organization that aims to get more black people elected at all levels of government.

READ MORE in The Princeton Western News or The National Post