Lights. Camera. Reaction.
"...Nova Scotia Premier, Darrell Dexter, does not care about black people."
As hyperbolic as that statement is, dumbfounded à la Kanye West was my initial disposition after reading articles I recently came across chronicling a brewing controversy in Nova Scotia's current electoral reform process.
Having now gotten over my initial shock, I must say that I cannot credibly confirm either way whether Premier Dexter cares about blacks in Nova Scotia (a.k.a. "African Nova Scotians"). However, what's clear is that Premier Dexter's government has recently shown steadfast disregard for the importance of protecting the political representation of his province's historic African Nova Scotian population.
In fact, in light of what I've learned I now have a better understanding of why Nova Scotia has been dubbed, the "Mississippi of the North." Before I get into all of that though, let me start with what led me to learn about the Nova Scotian government's discriminatory electoral reform manoeuvrings in the first place.
While recently taking some time to read up on news from the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign, I was led to numerous articles discussing covertly but clearly racist voter identification laws that at least 10 U.S. States have either passed or are rushing to pass before this November's presidential election. These laws are reported to impose increasingly rigid requirements that mandate voters to produce specific pieces of identification (i.e.: a valid driver's license) in order to be allowed to vote.
On its face, I agree that the introduction of these voter-ID requirements looks like harmless, if not, prudent and responsible law-making aimed at preventing voter fraud. However, my reading on this growing scandal suggested that these laws can be characterized as covertly but clearly racist because they have a disproportionately damaging effect on African-Americans and Hispanics -- voting blocs on which President Obama relied to win the presidency in 2008.
Anyway, as I read article after article describing what appears to be a generalizing U.S. conspiracy of racially motivated voter suppression, I eventually lost myself. It was only for a moment, but it happened...
I slipped from the mild-mannered and sometimes self-righteous humility that is so typically Canadian and I began shaking my head, thinking, "America; so far ahead but still so far behind. I mean, when's the last time anyone's heard of a government in Canada so obviously engaging in discriminatory manipulation of electoral policies?" Right?
A Google search and a bout with stunned silence later aaannd, boom!
2012: Nova Scotia, see Darrel Dexter. That shit cray!
Here's the story: Nova Scotia is undergoing reforms to adjust electoral boundaries in accordance with latest Canadian census. Mandated to undertake this process is the Electoral Boundaries Commission (EBC), an independent agency constituted to work on behalf of the citizens of Nova Scotia, not the government.
After months of community consultations, and much policy and legal research into the question of how best to protect the political representation of minorities in the province, the EBC decided to leave intact Nova Scotia's four "protected constituencies." Created in 1991, these constituencies were established to entrench political representation of francophone minority of Acadians, and African Nova Scotians in the province's House of Assembly (three of these constituencies secure Acadian representation and the other, the constituency of Preston, secures that of African Nova Scotians).
When the EBC released its interim report in May 2012 indicating its decision to maintain the protected constituencies, Premier Dexter and his Attorney General, Ross Landry, publicly opposed this decision, flatly rejected the report and demanded that the EBC do it over again -- this time with the protected constituencies obliterated and absorbed into surrounding electoral districts. (It's worth noting here that Dexter's provincial NDP holds none of these protected seats.)
So, what's Premier Dexter and Attorney General Landry's excuse for blatantly violating the political independence of the Electoral Boundaries Commission? Ironically, they argue that the Commission breached its Terms of Reference outlining the scope of the Commission's powers, namely the stipulation that the Commission ensure that the population of each constituency fall within 25 per cent of the provincial average of about 14,000. The four protected constituencies are all about half that size.
Now, I can't comfortably speak on the historic discrimination suffered by Acadians at the hands of successive Canadian and Nova Scotian governments. However, I can confidently and assuredly assert that regardless of the EBC's Terms of Reference, African Nova Scotians have earned the right to retain their protected constituency of Preston.
This is not a privilege but an African Nova Scotian right that has been paid for with way more than their fair share of blood, toil, tears and sweat. Indeed, there are at least 10 reasons for maintaining the political representation of African Nova Scotians' protected constituency:
1. Shelburne, Canada's first race riot.
2. The Black builders and developers of Citadel Hill and important parts of Halifax.
3. The War of 1812's Black Refugees-turned-soldiers-turned Nova Scotian settlers.
4. The No. 2 Construction Battalion.
5. The unjust and humiliating arrest of Viola Desmond.
6. The neglect and destruction of Africville.
7. The Auburn Drive High School incident.
8. The cross-burnings incident.
9. Current statistics evidencing a socio-economic "state of crisis" in the African Nova Scotian community.
10. The principles of Premier Dexter's own party, especially the fourth.
With all that said, I am strongly of the opinion that Premier Dexter should revisit his government's position on this issue. If for no other reasons, he should do so to convince the rest of Canada that Nova Scotia is nothing like the American Old South, that his belief in democratic principles of fairness and political independence are uncompromising, and most of all, to assure the public that he thinks of the black citizens in his province as more than, well, you know...
N*gg@$ in Preston.
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Ridings that redress discrimination, is settled law. The Supreme Court of Can has affirmed that "meaningful participation" trumps voter parity. Nowhere, can one find a country with pure equality of voting power.
When it comes to discrimination, I would think that any civil minded or rational person would have to put more weight to the opinions of individuals who are the targets of discrimination, and less weight to the beneficiaries of it.
It is the height of hypocrisy that this is the same party who said that the Progressive Conservative party did not go FAR ENOUGH to ensure Black and Acadian representation, when the Preston and Acadian seats were created. When the NDP couldn't get arrested, Blacks supported them. Now, the Black community has been thrown under the bus for more seats in Metro Hfx.I posit political expediency trumps principles for them.
"Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will." Dr. M. L. King Jr.
The sustained lack of Black Nova Scotians from the ranks of Provincial MLA’s continues to be a shameful and embarrassing legacy from which many do not see an apparent end. The redistribution of the Preston increases this trend.
It doesn't go unnoticed that, while this current government may believe in the principle of diverse participation, they don't believe in its price. Voter parity, as a principle of democracy, without the application of critical thinking, seems to make sense.
Many would posit that things are equal now. Anyone can offer as a candidate and, ideally, the best person would win. However, that ideal is not the reality for Blacks and mere access is not success. That a Black MLA was elected in a white riding (that, btw has a significant percentage of non-white voters) or that a white MLA was elected in the Preston riding (a majority-white riding and soon to be more so) are mere aberrations, not the norm. Moreover, we don't make policy based on exceptions; we make it on what, most likely, will happen. As my father says, "if you’re not represented at the table, you don’t to eat.".
As far as "African Nova Scotians", how many of them have actually been to Africa? Perhaps if they stopped classifying themselves as something other than a resident of Nova Scotia and a Canadian with the woe is me attitude, then maybe they would be treated better.
There is discrimination everywhere in life and in this world, instead of wanking about how hard it is try making the world a better place by showing you are the bigger person.
I believe, it is not out of forgiveness or out of guilt that they were granted a seat in the House of Assembly. The reason is for them to change their own mindset and barriers that suppress them away from the whole Nova Scotians society. Perhaps then, they will make the trip to downtown Halifax, as jimboy71 recognized for their lack of attendance in the HRM area. They can grow to be a member of our society, and not just be isolated in their own community and actually make a contribution to the whole.
We have heard the saying before "Lead and they will follow".
I'd like to compare that record with all the other regions of Canada and the US, I'll bet there are a waaay more Mississippis out there worse than NS.
Also the racism in the american south is hateful and pervasive. I experienced it first hand working with Texans in Alberta who treated the hispanics who worked with us like they weren't people. That ignorant behavior is something I have never come close to experiencing living in Nova Scotia.
A democracy is not about catering to the well off only.
But then, conservatives historically were never really fans of democracy, universal sufferage and the like. That's why there had to be a fight to get them in place.
There is already that problem in parts of Canada, especially PEI where they are vastly over represented in their voting.
In my life time?
No, I think not.
Nobody said "forever"; ONLY UNTIL the largest majority of Nova Scotians accept them unreservedly as fellow Canadians with full citizenship rights. Until then ONLY.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_Atwell
BTW who doesn't think residents of Preston are Canadians with full citizenship rights? Can you name a single person or provide a single citation?
I am confounded that an NDP government would press for this "new formula".
This reminds me of when women were not persons in Canada. How long ago was that?
The creation of inequality in the system cuts both ways, and is as wrong no matter if it is the old sense of women as non-persons, or some new politically correct consideration of blacks as super-persons when it comes to voting.
Darrell Dexter regularly played (and still plays) pick up basketball at the Dalhousie Gym with many black Nova Scotians.
While it is undeniable that there was racism in Nova Scotia and there still is - but then, where isn't there? - accusing Darrell Dexter and his government of racism because they want each provincial riding to be of roughly the same population, so that some groups do not have twice the effective representation of others, can hardly be called racist.
Is he gerrymandering and/or trying to gain an electoral advantage, because these seats voted against his government? Of course! But that is the worse thing that he can be accused of here.
Comparing this to the voter-ID laws in the US, and especially the list of ugly incidents in Nova Scotian history that you listed, is ridiculous.
Moreover, if you take a broader look at who benefits in the US or Canada from unequal representation, it's rural whites, who almost always have less people per seat/riding/district (and more senators per person in the US). Urban black populations tend to suffer from under-representation of urban and densely populated areas. Who is to say that blacks in Preston should have more representation than blacks in Dartmouth or Halifax?