Owen Sound’s Black history was highlighted in the House of Commons Tuesday, in a debate about naming August 1st Emancipation Day in Canada.
Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound Conservative MP Alex Ruff spoke in support of Richmond Hill Liberal MP Majid Jowhari’s Private Member’s Bill M-36.
The Bill calls for the House to designate August 1st of every year as ‘Emancipation Day’ in Canada. It also calls for the House to recognize the British Parliament abolished slavery in the British Empire as of August 1, 1834 and that slavery existed in British North America before its abolition in 1834 and that abolitionists and others who struggled against slavery, including those who arrived in Upper and Lower Canada by the Underground Railroad, have historically celebrated August 1 as Emancipation Day.
This past summer (2020) Owen Sound City Council voiced its support for a Private Member’s Bill by Richmond Hill Liberal MP Majid Jowhari to make August 1st Emancipation Day Canada wide. Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard has also pushed to have the day officially recognized.
In the House of Commons, Ruff spoke about Sydenham’s role (now Owen Sound) as a northern terminus of the Underground Railroad and the opportunity it gave those fleeing slavery to settle, raise their families and find work. The Underground Railroad was a secret network of routes and safe houses that enabled people to escape slavery in the United States by traveling to free states or in this case, to Canada.
Ruff asked Parliamentarians to imagine what it might have been like in the 1830s for someone like his seven year old daughter, who is of colour, to have to make an escape from slavery and attempt to reach that border.
He told Parliament making August 1st Emancipation Day is, “A way to recognize the contributions that people of African descent have made to this great country, it’s a way to educate and recognize what they’re still contributing to this day. This the Canada I want my daughter to grow up and be proud of.”
Owen Sound’s Emancipation Festival has been running for 158 years, beginning in 1862, Ruff told parliament, “Five years before Canada was officially a country, the Village of Sydenham was recognizing the importance of the abolishment of the British Commonwealth Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 which took effect the 1st of August 1834. They started with a picnic back then with the early settlers and they’ve been celebrating it nonstop ever since.”
He pointed to the importance of the Grey Roots Museum and Archives which plays a big part in the festival and in keeping and developing records of local Black history, “I really think that is the root advantage of bringing this motion forward is to make sure we never forget, and at the same time that we educate.”
The August 1st, festival was held virtually this year because of COVID-19 and was live streamed to people in their homes. Plans for the 2021 festival are already in place.
Meanwhile, Ruff has challenged any visiting MP to take a moment to visit the Black History Cairn in Owen Sound’s Harrison Park, “It’s a beautiful cairn that allows people of all backgrounds to go and visit, meditate for a while, think about the importance and the contributions that Black people have made to our country and remember the challenges that they faced in our history.”
You can see Ruff’s full debate speech below: