Community News
Who Can We Trust? Why are our community organizations all being put on blast?
BY MICHAEL THOMAS
“We want criminal charges to be pressed first of all, and that is figuring out if they will sue him to get the money back or whatever. This person was acting of their own accord, so it was not as if he was doing this on behalf of the organization. He did this for his selfish gains, so whatever the court of law says is the punishment for that, that is what we are looking for.”
Above are the words of Rose-Ann Bailey, an ex-Officio for the organization named Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (AKA Black CAP) from the previous board.
These same sentiments are echoed by many concerned board members of Black CAP who contacted Toronto Caribbean Newspaper about the lack of accountability, bullying, and misuse of board funds by a few people on the inside whose intentions according to the other members are less than honorable. Here are some insights shared with us by these concerned members.
Like many other Black organizations today, like the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA) and Tropicana Community Services, we too are concerned about financial transparency within the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention; the ONLY Black-led, Black-serving and Black-focused 35-year-old organization in the country. The lack of transparency significantly undermines the accountability and integrity of the organization. We are gravely concerned about the legally required: governance, transparency, and competency of the entire board.
According to the group of concerned members, this is the group that launched the illegal takeover of Black CAP. Please read carefully as to why there are many concerns here.
The primary concerns revolve around financial transparency and governance under the previous Executive Director, Gareth Henry (currently the Interim Executive Director of the Toronto HIV/AIDS Network), and his associates: Ian McKnight, Dennis White, Denzil Buckley, Nester Tom, Tru Stewart, Hamlet Nation, Lisa Duplessis, and Tanaka Chiromobo.
According to the group of concerned members, as of June 7th, 2024, the Board of Directors led by Ian McKnight and unsecured legal advice and service from Milton Chan (unofficially secured as legal representative of Ian McKnight’s group) terminated the employment of Tina “Tee” Garnett as Interim Executive Director and replaced them with Nief Neamatt, a former staff that was terminated September 2023.
This installation of Nief Neamatt is an effort to ensure that when a new Board of Directors is put in place at the June 13th, 2024, Special Members meeting the continued independent investigation into the unapproved and documented misappropriation of over $300,000 funds donated by the LCBO and other funders in 2022/2023 cannot be continued and thus attempting to clear Mr. Gareth Henry of any criminal, or legal accountability.
The group of concerned members told Toronto Caribbean Newspaper in a statement, “Mr. Neamatt has a well-known reputation by staff to be transphobic, homophobic, misogynistic, and sexist with multiple harassment and human rights complaints against him by staff.”
They went on to explain, “We are concerned about the physical, mental, and emotional health of all staff members, especially as they are beginning to heal under the leadership of Tee Garnett.”
Well-intentioned members are concerned that Nief Neamatt will delete all documentation that would prevent the investigation from being continued or continue to financially gouge the organization under the puppet strings of: Gareth Henry, Ian McKnight, Dennis White, Denzil Buckley, Nester Tom, Tru Stewart, Hamlet Nation, Lisa Duplessis, and Tanaka Chiromobo.
Again, according to inside sources, Mr. Neamatt has absolutely no previous experience, or competency as an Executive Director and can only rely on others to do the work.
Since October 20th, 2023, there have been many legal infractions and despite efforts to solve these issues internally, a group of six board members has consistently obstructed progress and failed to fulfill their duties. Here are some of the infractions.
- Undeclared conflict of interests and unwilling to sign Oath of Confidentiality and Declarations of Conflict-of-Interest Board forms (Requirement as a board member).
- Unethical behavior violation resulting in Human Rights complaints and investigations from staff based on interaction with board members.
- On-going violation of Union and Labour relations from Board Members.
- Demands by board members for full salary compensation for temporary replacement of the Interim Executive Director role.
- Inability to provide a safe work environment for the over 25 staff members of the organization.
- Blatant disregard for legal requirements has undermined the effectiveness of the Board of Directors at Black CAP.
- Unauthorized cancellation of the investigation around the ongoing independent financial investigation of the misappropriation of financial funds by Gareth Henry.
- Failure to meet the Enhanced Monitoring requirements set out by the Ministry of Health.
I spoke with three people from the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention: Tee” Garnett Interim Executive Director who was forced out illegally, Rose-Ann Bailey who is an Ex-Officio for the organization from the previous board, and an employee of Black CAP who for security reasons we will call Miss X.
Tee Garnett, a seventh-generation Canadian said to me, “Black CAP is near and dear to my heart. We have been here since 1781, and so seeing the first Black organization was a very monumental time in Black history for Black Canadians.”
“I came in knowing that the board was at a divide not realizing how deep it was, so I’ve been doing a lot of Afrocentric healing work with the staff who have gone through a lot of traumas, abuse, intimidation and I have been holding that space with them and for them.”
“We spent three days,” Garnett told me. “a week ago, doing healing work as an organization, only for one week later to have a board come in, who is in direct conflict with: standards, bylaws, code of conduct and then come in with an unretained, none-black legal representative, and call me while I was on sick leave with COVID to terminate me.”
Garnett told me in her closing words, “Black CAP needs community support because it belongs to the black community.”
Next up was Miss X who told me that her experience was that there is a lack of compassion and for a while Tee Garnet brought healing to the situation.
Speaking of the removal of Tee Garnett, Miss X said, “It was a hostile takeover because they took over I.T, and how they got access to the system nobody knows.”
I asked Miss X what she would like to see in the future at Black CAP, “That conflict of interest be declared from the get-go, places of power should be reserved for people who genuinely believe in the organization, and the moment we sense that things are not right, people need to say something.”
Rose-Ann Bailey was exceptionally candid about what has been taking place at Black CAP from a fraudulent point of view.
“We have the documentation to show that there have been funds that have been e-transferred to family members as well as a number of items that have not been approved by the board and were arbitrarily sent to different individuals.”
Bailey narrates a situation in Black CAP between Gareth Henry and Ian McKnight that makes the listener wonder why these two men are not in jail. From: doctoring credit card limits without the board’s consent, e-transferring thousands of dollars into a family member’s bank account, to stonewalling proper investigations and yet both men are free.
When asked what she would like to see happen to these guys for what they have done, Bailey answered, “Some of the times as Black people, we do not want to put our business out in public, but if we don’t people will continue to misuse the funds that are publicly given to community members that need it, so the more the public knows about what’s going on, the more honest we will make these organizations.”
Bailey told me this is not Black CAP’s first brush with internal thieves, however, this time the stakes are so high and outrageous that something has to be done publicly. “We want to make sure that they know that this has to stop,” she said.
By providing the information below, this organization wants the public to see the troubling number of patients who need their care, yet some who were entrusted with patients’ funds have chosen to funnel that money to places where it does not belong.
According to the Canadian AIDS Society and Health Canada, about one in four Canadians living with HIV identify as women.
In fact, an estimated 16,880 females live with HIV (including AIDS) across the country, with 597 new diagnoses among Canadian women in 2022 alone. All women have risk factors for HIV infection, but women who belong to socially and economically marginalized populations face many interconnecting determinants of health that adversely impact their risk for HIV infection, and their experiences accessing diagnosis, care, treatment, and support. ACB women, along with: Indigenous women, trans women, women who use drugs, women who experience violence, and women who are incarcerated are at a higher systemic risk for HIV.
A question that we do have as a paper is why are our organizations all being put on blast? Was the BBPA the genesis of our community organizations losing the trust of the community? Something insidious is developing, and we have to get to the bottom of it.
BY KHADIJA KARIM
Have you ever forgotten someone’s name, or where you left your phone and thought, “Why can’t I remember anything?” Forgetting might feel frustrating, but it turns out that forgetting things can actually be good for you. Experts believe forgetting might be an important part of human survival and could even have benefits.
You probably think that remembering everything would be better, right? If you remembered every tiny detail, like what you had for breakfast three weeks ago, or the colour of every car you saw today, you would be overwhelmed. Our brains are constantly receiving information, and if we didn’t forget some of it, we wouldn’t be able to focus on what really matters at that time.
Forgetting helps you clear out information you don’t need, and it helps your brain remember the most useful memories. Think about how hard it would be to focus on important things if your mind was filled with random thoughts. Forgetting helps you stay focused and keeps your mind from getting lost.
So, why would evolution make us forget things? Early humans had to deal with dangerous environments that changed quickly. They needed to remember things that helped them survive, like where to find food, or how to avoid predators. They didn’t need to remember every small detail, like what happened last week. Forgetting information, they didn’t need allowed them to make quick decisions based on what was most important at that moment in time.
For example, if you remember a recent storm, you might make sure to stay inside or find shelter. If you remembered every storm you’d ever seen, it would be harder to make decisions about the present. Forgetting irrelevant details helps you stay on your feet and helps you react faster to new situations. This ability to forget likely helped early humans survive and make better decisions in their everyday lives.
Next time you forget something, don’t be too hard on yourself! Forgetting is a natural part of how our brains work and can actually help you stay focused on the important things. It might seem annoying at times, but it’s helping you make better decisions. Forgetting isn’t just something to be annoyed about, it’s a smart way to survive in a world that’s always changing!
Community News
Blink equity dives deep into the gap between people of colour and decision-making roles in Canadian law firms
BY ADRIAN REECE
Representation in the workforce has been a topic of conversation for years, particularly in positions of influence, where people can shift laws and create fair policies for all races. Representation in the legal system is an even more talked about subject, with many Black men being subjected to racism in courts and not being given fair sentencing by judges.
The fear of Black men entering the system is something that plagues mothers and fathers as they watch their children grow up.
Blink Equity, a company led by Pako Tshiamala, has created an audit called the Blink Score. This audit targets law firms and seeks to identify specific practices reflecting racial diversity among them in Toronto. A score is given based on a few key performance indicators. These KPIs include hiring practices, retention of diverse talent, and racial representation at every level.
The Blink Score project aims to analyze law firms in Ontario with more than 50 lawyers. The Blink Score is a measurement tool that holds law firms accountable for their representation. Firms will be ranked, and the information will be made public for anyone to access.
This process is ambitious and seeks to give Canadian citizens a glimpse into how many people are represented across the legal field. While more and more people have access to higher education, there is still a gap between obtaining that higher education and working in a setting where change can be made. The corporate world, at its highest points, is almost always one race across the board, and very rarely do people of colour get into their ranks. They are made out to be an example of how anyone from a particular race can achieve success. However, this is the exception, not the rule. Nepotism plays a role in societal success; connections are a factor, and loyalty to race, even if people are acquainted.
People of colour comprise 16% of the total lawyers across the province. Positions at all levels range from 6% to 27%. These numbers display the racial disparity among law practitioners in positions of influence. Becoming a lawyer is undoubtedly a huge accomplishment. Still, when entering the workforce with other seasoned professionals, your academic accolades become second to your professional achievements and your position in the company.
What do these rankings ultimately mean? A potential for DEI-inclusive practices, perhaps? That isn’t something that someone would want in this kind of profession. This kind of audit also opens law firms up to intense criticism from people who put merit above all other aspects of professional advancement. On the other hand, there is a potential for firms to receive clientele based on their blink score, with higher ones having the chance to bring in more race-based clients who can help that law firm grow.
It is only the beginning, and changes will undoubtedly be made in the legal field as Blink Equity continues to dive deep into the gap between people of colour and decision-making roles in these law firms. This audit has the power to shift the power scale, and place people of colour in higher positions. There are hierarchies in any profession, and while every Lawyer is qualified to do what they are trained to do, it is no shock that some are considerably better than others at their jobs. The ones who know how to use this audit to their advantage will rise above the others and create a representative image for themselves among their population.
BY SIMONE J. SMITH
We are living in a world where promises of health and safety came packaged in a tiny vial, one injection was promoted by powerful governments, supported by respected institutions, and championed by legacy media worldwide. Sadly, beneath the surface, a darker truth emerged.
Reports from around the globe began to tell a different story—one that was not covered in the news cycles or press conferences. Families torn apart by unexpected losses, communities impacted in ways that few could have foreseen, and millions questioning what they had been told to believe.
Those who dared to question were silenced or dismissed (the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper being one of those sources). “Trust the science,” we were told. “It’s for the greater good.” As time went on, the truth became impossible to ignore.
Now, I bring more news to light—information that demands your attention and scrutiny. The time to passively listen has passed; this is the moment to understand what’s really at stake.
I reviewed an interview with Naomi Wolf, journalist and CEO of Daily Clout, which detailed the serious vaccine-related injuries that Pfizer and the FDA knew of by early 2021, but tried to hide from the public. I was introduced to “The Pfizer Papers: Pfizer’s Crimes Against Humanity.” What I learned is that Pfizer knew about the inadequacies of its COVID-19 vaccine trials and the vaccine’s many serious adverse effects, and so did the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA promoted the vaccines anyway — and later tried to hide the data from the public.
To produce “The Pfizer Papers,” Naomi, and Daily Clout Chief Operations Officer Amy Kelly convened thousands of volunteer scientists and doctors to analyze Pfizer data and supplementary data from other public reporting systems to capture the full scope of the vaccines’ effects. They obtained the data from the Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency, a group of more than 30 medical professionals and scientists who sued the FDA in 2021 and forced the agency to release the data, after the FDA refused to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request.
It was then that the federal court ordered the agency to release 450,000 internal documents pertaining to the licensing of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The data release was significantly and the documents so highly technical and scientific that according to Naomi, “No journalist could have the bandwidth to go through them all.”
The “Pfizer Papers” analysts found over 42,000 case reports detailing 158,893 adverse events reported to Pfizer in the first three months The centerpiece of “The Pfizer Papers” is the effect that the vaccine had on human reproduction. The papers reveal that Pfizer knew early on that the shots were causing menstrual issues. The company reported to the FDA that 72% of the recorded adverse events were in women. Of those, about 16% involved reproductive disorders and functions. In the clinical trials, thousands of women experienced: daily bleeding, hemorrhaging, and passing of tissue, and many other women reported that their menstrual cycle stopped completely.
Pfizer was aware that lipid nanoparticles from the shots accumulated in the ovaries and crossed the placental barrier, compromising the placenta and keeping nutrients from the baby in utero. According to the data, babies had to be delivered early, and women were hemorrhaging in childbirth.
Let us take us to another part of the world, where research has been done on other pharmaceutical companies. A group of Argentine scientists identified 55 chemical elements — not listed on package inserts — in the: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, CanSino, Sinopharm and Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines (according to a study published last week in the International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice, and Research).
The samples also contained 11 of the 15 rare earth elements (they are heavier, silvery metals often used in manufacturing). These chemical elements, which include lanthanum, cerium and gadolinium, are lesser known to the general public than heavy metals, but have been shown to be highly toxic. By the end of 2023, global researchers had identified 24 undeclared chemical elements in the COVID-19 vaccine formulas.
Vaccines often include excipients — additives used as preservatives, adjuvants, stabilizers, or for other purposes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), substances used in the manufacture of a vaccine, but not listed in the contents of the final product should be listed somewhere in the package insert. Why is this important? Well, researchers argue it is because excipients can include allergens and other “hidden dangers” for vaccine recipients.
In one lot of the AstraZeneca vaccine, researchers identified 15 chemical elements, of which 14 were undeclared. In the other lot, they detected 21 elements of which 20 were undeclared. In the CanSino vial, they identified 22 elements, of which 20 were undeclared.
The three Pfizer vials contained 19, 16 and 21-23 undeclared elements respectively. The Moderna vials contained 21 and between 16-29 undeclared elements. The Sinopharm vials contained between 17-23 undeclared elements and the Sputnik V contained between 19-25 undetected elements.
“All of the heavy metals detected are linked to toxic effects on human health,” the researchers wrote. Although the metals occurred in different frequencies, many were present across multiple samples.
I am not going to go any further with this; I think you get the picture. We have been sold wolf cookies, very dangerous ones. These pharmaceutical companies must be held accountable. I am proud of anyone who has gone after them for retribution, and have received it. Regardless, in many ways, there is no repayment for a healthy life.
REFERENCES:
https://ijvtpr.com/index.php/IJVTPR/article/view/111
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender_category/toxic-exposures/
Pfizer’s ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ — and Legacy Media’s Failure to Report on Them
55 Undeclared Chemical Elements — Including Heavy Metals — Found in COVID Vaccines
FDA Should Need Only ‘12 Weeks’ to Release Pfizer Data, Not 75 Years, Plaintiff Calculates
Judge Gives FDA 8 Months, Not 75 Years, to Produce Pfizer Safety Data
Most Studies Show COVID Vaccine Affects Menstrual Cycles, BMJ Review Finds
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