JCA Vice President Urges Black Community To “Please Vote’’

By Lincoln Depradine
Pride Contributing Writer

TORONTO, Ontario – More than a dozen African-Canadians, including two Toronto mayoral candidates, have registered to run in municipal elections on October 27.

Mayoral contenders Dewitt Lee III and D!ONNE Renée, and most of the candidates seeking elected office as councillors and school board trustees, are campaigning in places such as Etobicoke, Scarborough and York.

The one exception is Sandra Forsythe, who is running as Wards 3 and 4 trustee for the Ajax South Public School Board.

“I am a personal support worker. I have been working with children, youth and adults with special needs for over 22 years in a group home setting in Durham,’’ said Forsythe, who spoke to Pride News Magazine on Saturday.

She was among several community members attending a human rights forum on “The Experiences of African Descendants in Canada’’.

It was organized by the African Canadian Legal Clinic and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, with the support of Osgoode Hall Law School.

“I am an advocate for students and parents in the Durham community,” said Forsythe, a mother of five and grandmother of 11.

“In 2013, I advocated for 10 students to be re-enrolled into high schools across Durham so that they could complete their Grade 12 diplomas.”

Like other election candidates, Forsythe – who can be contacted at 416-828-0497 – is seeking campaign assistance and continues her canvassing for votes.

And, voting was one of the issues raised at last Saturday’s forum.

“Let us please vote,” urged Audrey Walters, vice president of the Jamaican Canadian Association. “We are known for not voting.”

Because of historical low voter-participation by African-Canadians in elections, political leaders have paid scant attention to the community’s concerns and have shown that “they don’t care about us,” Walters said.