Less talk, More Action – It is time that we hold our Governmental Officials Accountable

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“We have a big agenda to fulfil and keep our promises. We are going to make sure we keep every single promise.” Premier Doug Ford

It was pertinent that I shared this article with the community, strictly because something needs to be made very clear. The only way to get our community out of the situation we are in is to create our own team of leaders who will represent and serve our needs in Parliament.

In our community, there seems to be two different thought patterns: a tendency to hope for a better future through politics and politicians, and the pessimistic thought that regardless of who is in power, we are dealing with the devil so why even care.

It is something that I heard from a lot of people during this year’s election, and to be honest, I have experienced both patterns of thought. We have a hope that a new candidate will help the community to break from past mistakes and provide motivation for the future, but can such hope ever be fulfilled? Or, is it merely part of a cycle, a cynical exploitation of short voter memories and political partisanship. Will we ever witness a human government who can deliver a better future?

I think what was most disappointing about June 2^nd, 2022 was the voter turnout. It was recorded that 43%, the lowest voter turnout in history, which technically means that around 20% of Ontarians actually voted for the PC government. When Premier Doug Ford was asked about considering a different voting method that would be more representative of Ontario voters, Premier Ford replied, “This system has worked for a hundred and some odd years.”

My question is, work for whom?

Thanks to a general lack of care, Doug Ford had a resounding win in the Ontario election undoubtedly giving him and the Progressive Conservatives a strong mandate for the next four years.

No doubt, there are plenty of tough issues confronting the PC government, particularly fiscal and economic. He will also soon face contract talks with the teachers unions and other education workers, and with inflation so high, wage increases are bound to be a major sticking point.

Premier Ford has offered three main things to make life more affordable:

• Scrapping the $120/year fee to register a vehicle
• Eliminating tolls on the provincially owned 412 and 418 highways
• Knocking 5.7 cents per litre off the gas tax starting July 1^st

What I find interesting about our Premier is that nobody had ever heard of Doug Ford before he showed up at Toronto City Hall in 2010 to assist with his little brother Rob Ford. We all know how that ended; he enabled his brother and Rob Ford took a turn for the worst.

Apart from taking care of what was needed in his ward, and voting to cut funds to social support, Doug Ford really did not accomplish anything. Now, he is the Premier of the second largest province in Canada, and contrary to his claims of supporting the Black community more than any other politician, we have still not seen how he has done anything to truly support and uplift the African Caribbean community.

This leads me to the most important part of this article. The week before the elections, I did what was needed in order to get some answers for us. I sent a list of questions to candidates who were running, and I am disheartened to report that only one candidate reached back out to me, and Premier Doug Ford was not one of them.

Situations like this continue to show that the needs of African Caribbeans in Canada are partially considered, and I am curious as to how you, the reader, feels about this?

The candidate who responded to me was the leader of the Ontario Party Derek Sloan, and his answers were very telling.

I had my thoughts on them, but not wanting to be subjective, I reached out to community leaders: Knia Singh, and Devon Thompson to see what they had to say about his responses. I am going to let readers review them as well, and see how they land. Let’s do this!

In the last two – three years, what have you actively done in the African Caribbean Community (Remove grants and funding that many members of the community do not have access to)?

“As a politician, I have not been involved in removing any grants from the community. In my local community, there are not a lot of members of the African Caribbean Community, but there are some. I’m connected with many at my local church.”

Have you reached out to the grassroots communities, spoken to them, taken the time to hear what their needs are?

“We have several candidates in the Ontario Party who are part of the African Caribbean Community, for example Donny Morgan, one of our candidates in Scarborough-Agincourt riding, who helps inform our understanding of the community.”

Have you reached out to children in our community? Actually spoken to young people, those who might not be seen as desirable, and heard their stories? This is important when creating policies that actually support them, nurture their stories.

“We have various members of our party from this community that inform our view when creating policies.”

Have you reached out to members of the African Caribbean community who had valid reasons for not wanting to be vaccinated? Have you taken the time to hear their point of view?

“Our party is against vaccine mandates. We would not require anyone to be vaccinated for COVID-19, and we would not allow companies to require that either.”

What research has your party has done on the effects of vaccines on the African Caribbean community?

“Our party has been doing research on the effects of vaccines for the last two years. I am aware that various vaccines have been tested on communities in Africa, and that they have caused issues and disease there.”

What is an action plan that will enable our community to become self-sufficient and not depend on handouts from the government?

“We believe in teaching kids that they can achieve whatever they want to, as opposed to teaching them that they are perpetual victims. Donny Morgan, our candidate in Scarborough-Agincourt, grew up in a single-parent, disadvantaged family, and yet even though he is young, he has started his own business, employs other people, and is married with three kids. He’s also just bought his first home.

Anyone can do this. We need to use the Donny Morgan’s of the world as examples that you can achieve great things through hard work and perseverance, no matter the circumstances that you may come from.”

Other than the career politicians, have you spoken to leaders in the African Caribbean community to hear what they have to say?

“Yes I have. I’m connected to various Christian leaders in this community.”

Have you reached out to African Caribbean news outlets, requested to speak to them and share your policies with the people?

“My office has responded to press requests from different African Caribbean news outlets from time to time. I am always happy to speak with African Caribbean news outlets and welcome the opportunity to do so. Thank you for providing this opportunity for me to connect with the African Caribbean community.”

I showed this last answer to the founder of the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper Grant Browning, and he reminded me of something;

“The last question is interesting, I believe Simone, you reached out to him several times for an interview throughout the pandemic and there was no response.”

Facts!

I then heard Knia Singh’s take on it,

“There seems to be a total lack of response to the questions being asked.

African Caribbean Christians are not the only members of the African Canadian community. It is disturbing that Derek feels that is a sufficient answer. The perpetual victim statement in question number six bothers me. Not everyone can make it out, because the systemic oppression is constant. Derek seems to believe the challenges we face are something that can be overcome with hard work. Yes, with hard work the chances improve, but too many are being lost through the systemic barriers and discrimination that exist in society. Without addressing those, the disproportionate outcomes will continue.

Furthermore the perpetuation of that myth demonstrates a lack of understanding.

He could have done much better.”

I want to end with Devon Thompson’s thoughts because they were profound, and it laid the responsibility back on us, the community.

“I agree with the responses from Knia. It shows a lack of understanding from Sloan’s part. 

We however have to understand that Sloan doesn’t owe us anything, and we don’t owe him anything; what this means is that Sloan will always look out for what he sees as his best interest or the best interest of the people he chooses to represent.

Our community, while diverse, must do the same thing. We must start looking out for our best interest, and that means doing what you did Simone, reaching out and soliciting a conversation with all party leaders to ensure that they at least have an understanding of the needs of this diverse community. It may not be our responsibility to educate others, but it’s our responsibility to ensure that our interests are addressed in government policy, whomever forms government. 

Finally, it’s paradoxical that the only leader that responded to Toronto Caribbean News was the leader of the Ontario Party, the leader that the Liberals and NDP claim is racist and anti-immigration.

Our community must begin to start dismissing hearsay, organize, meet with these leaders in person and hear directly from their mouths what their positions are on issues affecting the community.”