Sunday, 8 December 2019

Black Member of Parliament Underscores the Power of Community Building


By Neil Armstrong

Photo credit: Eddie Grant       Matthew Green, Member of Parliament for Hamilton Centre and Yolanda McClean, President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), Canada Chapter

Matthew Green, the newly sworn-in Member of Parliament for Hamilton Centre in Ontario, says the substantive issues of the Black community continue to be unaddressed despite this being year five of the International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015-2024.

He said the question that he has been asked since he left Hamilton City Council as a councillor and was elected an MP is how would he stay grounded.

Green noted that the job is good in Ottawa and affords all types of benefits and perks and that he could see how people when they go there get lost in “the job of parliament and they forget about the work.”

“So they ask me how are you going to stay grounded and I tell them it’s easy for me to stay grounded because I have deep roots,” says Green who was speaking at the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), Canada Chapter awards dinner at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto on November 23.

He noted that from time to time politicians “will bring us into their corridors of power and put us up at the front for photos and make us feel real good in proximity to power but unless we’re in our communities building power none of that matters.”

Green said people have told him that he is a rookie and asked him what he would be doing in the position. He replied that he is going to do the same thing he was doing at city hall when he was a rookie – “speak truth to power because there is too much at stake right now.”

Hamilton’s first black councillor said the CBTU is important because it represents the largest collective and comprehensive interest of the Black community in Canada.

Green said he is a political observer and he believes that if someone were to disaggregate the exit polls “we would find out the Black community insulated this Liberal government from having real challenges in ridings across the GTA, including places like Brampton and Mississauga and other places.”

He asked why this was done and pointed to the new appointments to the Cabinet announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau which he said “still kept our people out.”

“Politics, like life, is all about moments and I can tell you this with a certainty I am not here alone. Every step along the way I had folks from our community who put on for me from day one.”

Green said the Black community is under attack by the provincial government and when they talk about gun violence they are not talking about programs of the Zero Gun Violence Movement that focus on preventative measures. Instead, they are focused on “increased policing and increased incarceration of our children.”

“We know they spend $80 million a year in Jane and Finch policing our communities and yet refuse to keep our afterschool programs, lunch programs and morning programs open,” he said.

Meanwhile, Yolanda McClean, president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), Canada Chapter says governments continue to pay lip service to anti-black racism and the provincial government has meted out austerity measures since it came into power.

She said there were many racist messages from right wing folks during the recent federal election and commended NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh for doing a great job in spite of them.

McClean said over the past year the CBTU has worked in partnership with several community organizations and environment campaigns.

The CBTU president said the chapter has been doing well over the past 22 years and this was the reason the theme for their annual awards dinner was “rooted in unity.”

She noted that the CBTU has accomplished a lot but still has a long way to go and will do whatever it takes that is necessary to make it happen.

Six scholarships were presented to young women who are pursuing post-secondary studies. The Young Women’s Post Secondary Scholarship was presented to: Arfi Hagi Yusuf of the University of Windsor, Chante Mundle of Humber College, Chantea Scott of the University of Waterloo, Reneesha McCormack-Pendley of Humber College, and Samantha Spence of Sheridan College. Amen Okungbowa received the Ann Newman Scholarship.

[This story was published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, December 5-11, 2019.]

12 comments:


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  5. Edward HC Graydon
    June 8, 2021 at 2:52 pm
    I would like to address that by saying as a candidate in the last federal election for the riding of Central Hamilton ,I really tried at that time through Twitter to draw attention to the issues of the working poor and those collecting ODSP. I went so far as to state that each person in the riding of Central Hamilton receive $500 a month on top of ODSP without claw back . But even that at this time in history is too little too late. It is not possible to survive in any real way on the amounts that are being given to those collecting ODSP . Why has Mathew Green ignored this issue ? Why is that man in politics when he talks nothing but race…It is all about skin colour nothing more and social justice causes ,while the biggest injustice in the city of Hamilton is being carried on without a word in parliament. He should be standing up and finding the money for his constitutes .Go and find the money and fight for your riding of Central Hamilton …As now he appears close to useless …Sorry but Mathew Green is all talk and no action and this I find an issue when people are staving and going homeless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NDP MP celebrates toppling of Sir John A. Macdonald statue in Hamilton
      By Rebel New

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    2. You see it is all about virtue signalling and race nothing more while the disadvantaged in his riding suffer from close to starvation while he is MP.
      He appears a racist propagandist ? Nothing more!

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    3. Jussie Smollett is in fact Matthew Green in my opinion as both lie to the police while playing the victim of racism that does not exist.

      Delete
    4. Mathew although not an idiot is politically retarded ,no doubt ! But a close second place is Vito Sgro as just yesterday afternoon I happen to see Vito on the street and this is basically how it went? Hi Vito! Long time no see! What do you think about what has taken place over the last few years since the election ? I was interested in his response as a Liberal fund raiser , I asked somewhat casually about lockdowns? He stated he got 5 vaccine shots ....This makes me question whether Vito is in fact mentally retarded ? He reminds me of those that capitulated to the fear while wearing a mask on Facebook profile as though they where towing the political line while being fucked mentally by the Trudeau Goverment . It seems those liberals who pushed the vaccine and covid mandates have been fucked mentally by promoting the fact that they capitulated to the fear and could not withstand the propaganda while telling me that ? Edward that was a few years ago and I don’t want to talk about that!
      Actually it was only a few years ago ! And this this why I believe Matthew Green and Vito Sgro are basically politely retarded in my opinion .Fucking useless as they are always on the wrong side of history.

      Fucking! Political losers

      Delete
  6. Matthew Green is close to useless at doing anything for those that actually seem to be suffering financially in the riding of Central Hamilton ! I would be so much better at helping those in need as he is clueless in so many ways! Pathetic really ! And might I add the biggest race baiting ass hole in the city. of Hamilton.



















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  7. Not one party Federally or provincially including the NDP and Green Party talk openly about the plastic waste accumulated as the byproduct of selling weed legally! Not a word is mentioned that is indicative of shortsightedness.Why do the federal and provincial goverments allow suppliers of weed to use plastic and really so much when buying weed . It seems so hypocritical to allow it to continue as the amount of one plastic tube for the use of one joint could probably produce 50 straws?

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    View the profile of “Edward H.C Graydon”
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    Edward H.C Graydon
    2 years ago
    Wow ,On Facebook I had stated that it would be weeks until the first new store would open . I was wrong . Either way if Fred is there to celabrate the opening ,the optics are terrible.

    As far as the new stores they are exspense .They are wastefull as far as the pastic,glue and cardbord it takes to hold one pre-rolled joint. I could not believe it.It was like unwrapping a Gillete Mach 3 razzor package Very short sighted from an enviromental side. And to tell you the truth, I am a little concerned that the medical aspect of all this has disappeared.I mean when you are getting warnings that the same chemicals that are present in tobacco I start to wonder about the health benefits? I think the whole thing is a mess and monopolising and closing down the independents that might be growing under less harmfull conditions should be able. I do not think these stores are the answer .,I would really like to see organic weed but unless you grow your own everyone is smoking ?? It needs work. The idea in principal of leagisation is really in question .The new way seems so Plastic fantastic. « less
    1

    View the profile of “Edward H.C Graydon”
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    Edward H.C Graydon
    2 years ago
    I don’t want to crash the excitement Hamilton must feel of adding another harmful and addictive drug to our streets but the government ad that is trying to draw attention to the harmful effects states to start with small amounts don’t try too much. If I was sitting mayor I would be down playing the opening for concern for those children over five that can read . I would be promoting don’t start.Now I have seen it all ! I really did not think the day would come that a sitting mayor would celebrate the sale of a substance that is known to produce the same carcinogens as tobacco .. « less
    1

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