On his first day in office, Nova Scotia’s white prime minister chose a white man to represent thousands of new African Scots and as head of the Canadian province’s anti-racist efforts, infuriating members of his community.
“I understand his emotions, though [the decision] it should not be interpreted as not caring to listen to the community, “Tim Houston, a member of the Progressive Conservative Party, said Tuesday night. He chose Pat Dunn, a member of the Canadian Legislative Assembly, as minister of African Affairs of Nova Scotia and the Office of Anti-Racism Initiatives.
There are approximately 21,000 people of African descent in the province distributed among 50 Nova Scotia African communities. Answers to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation tweets on the decision, as well as Facebook comments about Houston’s announcement, denounced the decision as “deaf.”
Among the 31 members of the Conservative Progressive Party elected to office in August, there were no black members. Three black progressive Conservative candidates had run and lost. Houston said, instead of choosing a black candidate from outside his party for the position now held by Dunn, that “our democracy works best when elected people are put in positions of responsibility,” according to the Toronto Star.