By Neil Armstrong
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| Photo contributed Andria Barrett, Ontario NDP candidate for Brampton South |
As someone who always wants to make the community better, Andria Barrett, the Ontario New Democratic Party candidate for Brampton South, believes she can make a change in the city she loves.
A big supporter of small businesses, she will hold the launch of her campaign to win a seat in the Ontario election happening on June 2 at a Black-owned restaurant in the city’s downtown on May 5.
“I’ve always had an interest in working with the community and advocating,” says Barrett.
She says this started in high school when she was the president of the Students’ Council and also head of Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving.
Seeking political office was the natural next step for the alumna of the Claude Watson School of the Arts program at Earl Haig Secondary School in Toronto. Immersing herself in student politics, the arts, and academics provided her with a great experience, she says.
Barrett says it is important that people who live in a community have their voices and their concerns heard, including the younger generation. The first-time candidate says it is imperative that they see people who look like them — a female or a Black woman who is trying to represent them.
She says the NDP has a Black Caucus with members from different parts of the diaspora and is the first provincial-led party to do so.
Barrett notes that because the caucus exists issues that are important to Black people are represented. Citing Little Jamaica as an example, she says MPP Jill Andrew is trying to ensure that the province protects that space and the business owners there. The party also had a private member’s bill to address anti-Black racism in the province.
Barrett says running in an election costs a lot of money and that can be a barrier for some people. However, she feels supported by the current NDP Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) who willingly respond to her questions or concerns.
“The Black Caucus has a team that if you have any questions, need support, want to know how the system works, you can reach out.”
When it comes to finances, Barrett says she is very happy that the party has a special equity fund set aside for a group of candidates that typically have challenges when it comes to fundraising.
When out canvassing, the main concerns she has heard from constituents relate to the high car insurance in Brampton — Bramptonians pay higher than most people in Ontario — and healthcare, senior care and long-term care. The city has over 700,000 residents but only has one hospital, says Barrett.
“We are underfunded when it comes to our healthcare and we need more hospitals. The nurses and healthcare professionals, they do the best they can but they are just overcapacity.”
Barrett grew up in different parts of Brampton for most of her life and many of her relatives are based there. Her sister, who is a nurse, has been working in a long-term care home for over twenty years in the city.
Barrett says she cares about what happens in her neighbours’ household just as much as she cares about her own.
“We are all going through the same struggle and I relate and I want to help and advocate to make things better. I am a great listener and I am a doer. I get things done.”
Recently, Barrett held a town hall with a group of young women between ages 18 and 25 and listened to their insightful questions about student grants, the environment, car insurance, support for teachers and educational workers and the broken system in their schools.
The prominent business leader serves on several boards, including the Culinary Tourism Alliance, and has volunteered for organizations like the Sickle Cell Awareness Group of Ontario.
Her campaign launch on May 5 at Lot 25 in downtown Brampton will include special guest NDP federal leader Jagmeet Singh, guest speaker former educator and politician Zanana Akande and a performance by Liberty Silver.
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| Photo contributed Jamaal Blackwood, Green Party of Ontario candidate for Brampton East |
“I am running for office because of the change I want to see. There are a tremendous number of issues that are currently taking place within different communities of Brampton and families are forced to deal with these issues due to lack of support from their government,” says Jamaal Blackwood, who is the Green Party’s candidate in Brampton East. Among the issues he identified are people wanting a better life for their families and youth needing more resources to succeed within the education system.
Blackwood, 28, a student at the newly named Toronto Metropolitan University, says he has noticed that more Black people have decided to join the fight for change. “It is important to encourage even the youth to rise to the cause and making sure they have the support when doing so.”
The first-time candidate says it took a while for people to support him because he is young and representing a party that many do not know much about. “However, I knew getting into politics it would not be easy and require me to do a lot of late nights when balancing school, work and running for office. I accepted the challenge and did my due diligence by going door to door and speaking on the issues that mattered most to the people within the communities.”
Blackwood says among the major issues in his riding are noise pollution, bad air quality and the lack of safety for youth attending schools within the area. These have been ongoing concerns that constituents have expressed to their current city councillors and MPP.
“I knew that standing with the community on this issue was more important than asking people to vote for me. I believe in respect and every human being having their rights and, we, as politicians should uphold their rights and do what we must to protect them as their leaders.”
He notes that Ontarians should vote because they are the ones who get to choose which individual will represent them and their families. Acknowledging that some find it hard to believe anything politicians say, he advised citizens to do their research.
Youth have complained about the lack of resources for their education and the lack of youth facilities to provide mentorship, leadership and support toward their goals as they navigate through difficult times within their families or at school, he says.
Blackwood says his parents taught him financial literacy and how to understand the economy. They told him about the challenges they faced in Jamaica as youth walking long distances from home to school or having little to nothing but making sure their siblings were taken care of while their parents worked.
“Things were not easy for them growing up and coming to Canada and that is something I always remember when doing anything.”
Barrett and Blackwood are among the twenty-two Black candidates running in the June 2 election.
The Ontario New Democratic Party candidates are: Andria Barrett (Brampton South), Marjorie Knight (Cambridge), Laura Mae Lindo (Kitchener Centre), Felicia Samuel (Scarborough-Rouge Park), Jill Andrew (Toronto-St. Paul’s), Faisal Hassan (York South-Weston), Gemma Grey-Hall (Windsor-Tecumseh), and Rhyan Vincent-Smith (Oakville North-Burlington).
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidates are: Patrice Barnes (Ajax), Charmaine Williams (Brampton Centre), Alicia Vianga (Scarborough-Guildwood), David Smith (Scarborough Centre), Patrick Mayangi (Ottawa-Vanier), and Mark Saunders (Don Valley West).
For the Ontario Liberal Party, the candidates are: Mitzie Hunter (Scarborough-Guildwood), Marilyn Raphael (Brampton South), Manal Abdullahi (Scarborough-Rouge Park), Linda McCurdy (Windsor West), Julie Mbengi Lutete (Etobicoke North), Ismail Mohamed (Kitchener South-Hespeler), and Granville Anderson (Durham).
The Green Party of Ontario’s candidate is Jamaal Blackwood (Brampton East).
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