MPs unanimously vote to declare Aug. 1 Emancipation Day

OTTAWA – MPs in the House of Commons have voted unanimously to designate Aug. 1 as Emancipation Day across Canada.

The motion drew 335 votes in favour on Wednesday last week, with no abstentions or nay votes.

Aug. 1 marks the anniversary of  the  abolition orf slavery in the British Empire in 1834. .

“Recognizing Emancipation Day at the federal level is a step forward in acknowledging the multi-generational harms caused by slavery and recognizing the heritage of people of African descent in Canada and the many contributions they have made and continue to make,” said Emelyana Titarenko, the spokesperson for Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth Bardish Chagger.

The motion was introduced by the Liberal MP for Richmond Hill, Majid Jowhari. It also called on the federal government to recognize “the heritage of Canada’s people of African descent and the contributions they have made and continue to make to Canada.”

Jowhari’s motion was seconded by Alex Ruff, a Conservative MP who represents Owen Sound, where Emancipation Day has been celebrated consistently since before Confederation.

“The root advantage of bringing this motion forward is to make sure we never forget, and at the same time that we educate,” Ruff said.

The Green Party of Canada welcomed the vote, saying it would provide an opportunity for members of Black and Indigenous communities to celebrate their achievements, cultures and traditions.

“I’m very pleased that there has been overwhelming support,” said Green Party Leader Annamie Paul.

“For almost 200 years Emancipation Day has gone generally uncommemorated, and untaught, though people of African descent have lived in Canada since the transatlantic slave trade and the Indigenous Peoples of these territories predate the colonialists.”

Rosemary Sadlier, President of the  Black Canadian Network, who for many years had been seeking  ” national recognition” in Canada for Emancipaton Day, said she was “in tears” when she saw on television that Candian MPs had voted ” in favour of the motion.”

“There was a time at which I thought I would never see this happen in my lifetime. But it happened and I am very happy,” she told The Caribbean Camera. 

A former president of the Ontario Black History Sociey, Sadlier said ” that there was good reason to recognize that there was indeed slavery in this place we now call Canada .

‘It lasted for over 200 years and Canada was one of the first places in the world where chattel slavey was abolished effective August 1, 1834.”