For Linda Oliver, February 14th, 2020 was not a year for a celebratory meal at a five star French restaurant with Champagne and roses.
Instead, we went to the 1600 seat Ikeda Theatre in the well known Mesa Arts Center …
Continue Reading
Order of Canada
This article appeared in Share , January 9-22, 2020.
Read more: ‘Seven Haligonians appointed to Order of Canada‘ (HalifaxToday.ca, Dec. 30, 2019)
Given six months to live after a rare debilitating heart disease diagnosis in 2015, retired Senator …
Continue Reading
There’s a gaping hole in our democracy
This Op-Ed originally appeared in The Hill Times on June 19, 2019.
As the United Nations puts it, for far too many Canadians, anti-Black racism, discrimination and inequality are part of their daily lives. It reaches into our democratic institutions.…
Continue ReadingBlack Canadian Youth: Boundless, Rooted and Proud
February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate and remember all the ways that Black Canadians have contributed to Canada’s history and culture.
This year’s theme is Black Canadian Youth: Boundless, Rooted and Proud, which recognizes how Black …
Continue Reading
We Still Need a Black History Month
EDITORIAL FEBRUARY 1, 2019 The Athenaeum
Some valley thoughts on Black History month.
Black History Month in Canada has had some recent powerful successes. There’s a growing, greater understanding and appreciation of the intrinsic value of Black contributions, in science, …
Continue Reading
Thoughts on My 80th Birthday Celebrations
I turned 80 on the 16th of November, 2018. But this was by no means a unique happening. Millions of people from around the world have reached 80 years and, indeed, lived a lot longer, but for me it was …
Wolfville native, retired senator Donald Oliver feted at 80th birthday celebration
A journalist, Kirk Starratt of the Kings County News on December 4, 2018, wrote this about the birthday:
… Continue ReadingA Wolfville native and retired senator facing serious health issues says he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support as he celebrated
Senate administration’s efforts on diversity should be applauded
EDITORIAL JULY 4, 2018 Hill Times
The Senate has come a long way since the early 2000s. Back then, Conservative Senator Donald Oliver charged that the Senate’s administration-and the public service, in general-was rife with systemic racism.
“The Senate’s lack …
Continue Reading
PM declaration on anti-Black racism big on talk, light on action, say politicos, observers
By CHARELLE EVELYN FEB. 7, 2018 Hill Times
Three years in, Canada has recognized the UN International Decade for People of African Descent, but didn’t come with an accompanying action plan. But Liberal Black caucus chair Greg Fergus says …
Continue Reading