How the Black Canadian experience is the Canadian experience

Canadians have recognized Black History Month officially since 1996, although it started in the U.S. in the 1970s. Every February, Canadians celebrate the achievements of Black?people throughout our history.

To me, Black History Month is an opportunity to learn, build awareness and start conversations within our workplaces, schools and communities about how we can make sure our national identity and the stories we tell about ourselves are inclusive and complete.

Many are surprised to learn that Black people have been in Canada for centuries. Black Canadian stories are woven into the fabric of the Canadian?experience and deserve to be told – from the 1600s, when Mathieu Da Costa, who worked with French traders as?an interpreter of Indigenous languages, to today. Many are also unaware that enslavement?of Black people existed in Canada, just as in the U.S. Slavery was not as?profitable in this cold climate, where slaves often worked in the house and not plantations. Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada John Graves Simcoe introduced a?bill to end slavery in the colonies. The bill was modified before receiving Royal Assent in 1793 so some members of both houses of legislature could keep owning slaves, with a timeframe to phase it out.?

My ancestors have lived in what is now Canada since at least the mid-1800s. There is no way of knowing exactly how and when they got here and where they came from. They likely kept a low profile about their passage to Canada. Records and stories of Black Canadian history have also often been erased, buried, and not recorded and are hard or impossible to track.

I know some ancestors likely came up by ships alongside British Loyalists after the American Revolution, and some escaped slavery in Virginia, to eventually settle in smalltown Ontario. My?grandfather’s family cooked and worked as porters on ships that travelled the Great?Lakes and Saint Lawrence River. This did not come without risk. Two of my great great?uncles lost their lives in the frigid waters of Lake Superior.?

They ran an inn, where people stayed, ate well and held wedding receptions. The Sheffield?Cedar Inn in Collingwood was listed in the 1959 Green Book, the travel guide for Black?travelers to find safe places to eat and stay on their journeys and made famous by the?Oscar-winning movie in 2018.?

My grandmother was born in Glace Bay, N.S. to parents who arrived in Canada from Barbados. Her?father immigrated to work in the coal mines and died young from lung disease.

It doesn’t get more Canadian than how my grandparents met – watching their?brothers play hockey together. My great uncles, Howard Sheffield and Arthur Lowe played?alongside other player Gary Smith, forming a line on a hockey team in Mount Forest, Ontario in the 1950s. The three earned the nickname the Black Flashes. The CBC did a story a few years ago about how hockey continues to play a big part in my family.

My family have bravely served in both world wars, were chefs, coalminers, ran businesses, raised?families, and contributed greatly to building the Canada of today. Black Canadians are “everyday”?Canadians, whether they’ve been here since the 1600s or arrived here recently. They’ve worked hard, faced racism and discrimination and sacrificed their lives in their contributions.?

This Black History Month, and throughout the year, I intend to learn more and encourage others to explore the many stories about Black Canadians. The Black Canadian experience is the Canadian experience.?

Sara Parkes is a Senior Communications Advisor?in Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.