People have often asked me over the past 18 years what I like most about being a city councillor. The answer is always the same: having the ability to transform some of my ideas into action.

Councillor Erdelyi, Elisabeth Prass, Na'kusetm  Elder Delisle, Mayor Brownstein and myself.

As the chair of our annual Human Rights Walkway induction ceremony, which had been shelved for several years due to the pandemic, I had been thinking of approaching Na'kuset. Her role as  executive director of the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal and advocate of Indigenous rights had long impressed me.

Last spring I proposed her candidacy to members of council. Soon after, our Director of Public Affairs and Communications Darryl Levine began the process of making this happen. We approached Na'kuset and decided to bring the ceremony back to its roots and do it on a weekday so that students could attend and gain a true authentic learning experience. I could not have been more proud of how the proceedings went.

Na'kuset engages with students.

Inaugurated in September 2000 and located at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Park, the Côte Saint-Luc Human Rights Walkway is dedicated to those men and women who, by their steadfast commitment to humankind, have held high the torch of human rights and let it light the world. For more information on previous inductees, visit cotesaintluc.org/services/sports-recreation/human-rights-walkway.

On September 27, fittingly on the eve of The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (also known as Orange Shirt Day), more than 100 people joined us on a beautiful fall day. This included students from Solomon Schechter Academy, Bialik High School and the Wagar Adult Education Centre. Mayor Mitchell Brownstein, Deputy Mayor Dida Berku, Councillor Steven Erdelyi and D'Arcy McGee Liberal MNA  Elisabeth Prass were on hand as were former councillors Glenn J. Nashen and David Tordjman. Elder  Sakakohe Debbie Delisle offered opening words.

SSA Principal Maya Doughan, Na'kuset, Mayor Brownstein Councillor Erdelyi, myself and students

Na’kuset is Cree from Lac la Ronge, Saskatchewan. Born in 1970, she was one of the estimated 20,000 or more First Nations, Métis and Inuit infants and children taken from their families by child welfare authorities and placed for adoption in mostly non-Indigenous households from approximately 1951 to 1984. As a small child, she was taken from her home and adopted into a Jewish family in Montreal. The story of how she reclaimed her Indigenous identity, with help from her Bubby is something she shared with the audience at our ceremony while showing great emotion, 

Over the years Na’kuset  has launched many programs, including the Miyoskamin second stage housing project, Saralikitaaq (a social pediatric centre open to Indigenous children and their families across Montreal), the Iskweu Project (immediate assistance to missing Indigenous women or girls), the Cabot Square Project (counselling, referrals, and liaison with other social services), and Resilience Montreal (food and shelter, mental health and medical support services).

A salute to the 2000 city council and then Mayor Robert Libman for initiating this project. I can't wait to start working on our 2024 inductee.

You can watch a recording of the entire ceremony here.

Click on the media links below:

CTV Montreal

Global Montreal

CIty News Montreal

Côte Saint-Luc intronise Na’kuset sur sa Promenade des droits de la personn

Na’kuset est une Crie du Lac la Ronge, en Saskatchewan. Née en 1970, elle a fait partie du groupe de quelque 20 000 nourrissons et enfants des Premières Nations, Métis et Inuits enlevés à leur famille par les autorités de protection de l’enfance et placés pour adoption dans des familles principalement non autochtones entre 1951 et 1984 environ. 

Aujourd’hui, Na’kuset est directrice générale du Foyer pour femmes autochtones de Montréal. Elle a lancé de nombreux programmes, notamment le projet Maison d’hébergement de seconde étape Miyoskamin, Saralikitaaq (un centre de pédiatrie sociale accueillant les enfants autochtones et leurs familles de partout à Montréal), le projet Iskweu (offrant une assistance immédiate aux familles et aux proches de femmes et de filles autochtones disparues), le projet Cabot Square (conseils, références et liaison avec d’autres services sociaux), et Résilience Montréal (nourriture et hébergement, et services de soutien en santé mentale et soutien médical). 

 

Inaugurée en septembre 2000 au parc Pierre Elliott Trudeau, la Promenade des droits de la personne est dédiée aux femmes et aux hommes qui, par leur engagement inébranlable au service d’humanité, ont tenu bien haut la flamme des droits de la personne, afin que sa lumière se répande sur le monde. Pour en savoir plus sur ceux intronisés sur la Promenade des droits de la personne : https://cotesaintluc.org/fr/services/sports-et-loisirs/promenade-des-droits-de-la-personne.  

« Les droits de la personne sont de la plus haute importance capitale pour notre conseil municipal et nos résidents, a déclaré le maire Mitchell Brownstein. "À Côte Saint-Luc, c’est sur la Promenade des droits de la personne que nous rendons hommage à ceux qui défendent les droits de la personne, ici et partout à travers le monde entier. Nous sommes fiers d’y ajouter le nom de Na’kuset et espérons qu’elle servira d’inspiration à tous ceux qui visiteront le parc. » 

Biailik

 

J'ai souligne que la date et l’heure de l’intronisation ont été planifiées pour encourager la participation des écoles locales et de faire participer les classes de la 5e année du primaire en montant. J'ai ajoute que la date choisie coïncide avec la veille de la Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation, encore connue sous le nom de Jour du chandail orange, qui reconnaît l’héritage du système canadien des pensionnats Autochtones.  

Wagar

 

 

 

 

 

I finally saw the motion picture 42, the true story of how Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier in Major League Baseball. When the film was over, some of those in the audience at the Quartier Cavendish Mall Theatre applauded. The movie was extraordinary and while I knew about the racism Robinson and others suffered, it was nonetheless disturbing  to see it portrayed so vividly on the large screen. Could this have really happened in our lifetime?

Well before I even knew the movie 42 was coming out, I had proposed to  my colleagues on Côte Saint-Luc City Council that we honour Jackie Robinson in our 2013 Human Rights Walkway Ceremony during Canada Day festivities. We will indeed be doing so. However, as prelude to this event, I felt it was vitally important that we incorporate  an educational component. My co-chair, Councillor Allan J. Levine, agreed. As a former school teacher of 35 years, mostly at Wagar High School, Allan knows that the story of Jackie Robinson needs to be in the classroom.

So I got to  work on a lecture, which we ended up holding on May 10 at City Hall. My good friend Jack Jedwab, the executive director of the Association of Canadian Studies and a Robinson historian agreed to join us. I timed the event specifically to coincide with a visit to town by former Expos star Warren Cromartie, now head of the Montreal Baseball Project. And then there was Kirmit Kitman. For many years my late father Larry would tell me stories about Kitman, an American who came here to play for the old Montreal Royals. From the pressbox we'd see Kitman in his box seats behind the Expos dugout. "He played with Jackie Robinson," Larry would say.

I tracked Kitman down and a 90 years of age he is still as sharp as can be. He also agreed to join the panel. It was now time to pick the students and I wanted cross-section from the public sector and the Jewish day school system. From the English Montreal School Board, representatives from Merton, Hampstead, Elizabeth Ballantyne and Coronation attended. They were joined by pupils from Hebrew Academy, United Talmud Torahs, Herzliah and Bialik's baseball team. Some members of the public attended, making for a packed house of some 200 people. I am pictured above with Jedwab, Cromartie, Kitman and some students.

This was a one hour living history lesson. Jedwab has always been interested in the Robinson story and organized many events about the trailblazing  sports icon. Immediately, Jedwab made such a powerful point. How could a country like the United States, which had fought the Nazis in Europe, practice racial segregation in their own land? As the son of a concentration camp survivor, Jedwab said he was motivated to speak about Robinson.

Kitman played two years for the Royals. He spent one entire training camp in Daytona Beach getting to know Robinson and seeing for himself the type of disturbing racism which existed. Cromartie was literally brought to tears after hearing Kitman's words. "If it was not for Jackie Robinson, there would be no athlete of colour playing any sport," he declared.

Mayor Anthony Housefather gave a stirring account of just what Robinson's debut in the majors did for blacks in sports while Councillor Levine later lashed out at our Quebec government for its own brand of targeting minorities, specifically proposed language legislation Bill 14.

I was thoroughly inspired by our lecture and so were the students and educators in the audience. It was why I asked my wife to join me at the theatre the following day to see 42. This is a film every student should see and when it comes out on DVD I will make such a push at the EMSB. Ideally, Black History Month 2014, would represent an excellent opportunity.

Cromatie, by the way, will be back here this summer giving a four week baseball school at our own Trudeau Park, with an additional two weeks added at another park in Ahuntsic. At our lecture, kids expressed a lot of interest in attending. Here is the flyer.

John Kenney of the  Montreal Gazette did this terrific video of the event:

On the eve of Black History Month I was pleased to announce that the City of Côte Saint-Luc will induct Jackie Robinson to our Human Rights Walkway on July 1, 2013 during the Canada Day celebrations at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Park. Councillor Allan J. Levine will co-chair this program with me.

“Although the understanding of racial equality has advanced a great deal since Jackie Robinson broke the major league colour barrier, his achievements in advancing tolerance and understanding through the world of sport deserves to be honoured,” Mayor Anthony Housefather said.

Although there had been African American baseball players as late as the 1880s in the professional leagues, the teams that made up professional baseball eventually agreed unofficially to stop using black players. In November 1945, the Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey broke with convention and signed Robinson to a contract. Robinson played for Dodger’s triple-A team, the Montreal Royals in 1946. He debuted with the Dodgers in 1947 and was selected as the Rookie of the Year. Robinson was the National League’s Most Valuable player in 1949, and helped the Dodgers win the World Series in 1955. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

Having been involved in the sports world all of my life I cannot remember a time when black athletes did not make up a high percentage of major leaguers, But you only need to go back 60 years to know a time when there were no black players in Major League Baseball. Jackie Robinson changed history in a tangible way.

Councillor Levine said he hopes that local schools will find a way to bring Robinson’s inspiring life story part of the classroom curriculum, beginning in February, which is Black History Month in Canada. The Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc Public Library will present a formal display of books about Jackie Robinson during the month of February.

Hollywood will also pay homage to Robinson this year with the release in April of the motion picture “42”, starring Harrison Ford as Dodgers owner Branch Rickey and Chadwick Boseman as Robinson.

Former Montreal Expo Warren Cromartie, and president of the Montreal Baseball Project, will partner with us to honour Robinson. He is scheduled to attend the ceremony on July 1, 2013. More details on the event will be released as the event approaches.

Inaugurated in September 2000, the Côte Saint-Luc Human Rights Walkway is dedicated to those men and women who, by their steadfast commitment to mankind, have held high the torch of human rights and let it light the world. Previous inductees include René Cassin, John P. Humphrey, Raoul Wallenberg, Jules Deschênes, Maxwell Cohen, Mary Two-Axe Early, Helen Suzman, Antonio Lamer, Miep Gies, Human Rights Activists for Oppressed Jews in Foreign Lands, and Aung San Suu Kyi.