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w w w .insideH A LT O N .com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, F ebruary 1 0 , 2 0 1 7 | 6 Editorial Black heritage Each February; Canadians are invited to celebrate Black History Month to recognize the contributions of black Canadians, past and present. The Spirit of Harriet Tubman is often a show that is performed -- the story of Tubman' s life from her early years of slavery and then Underground Railroad con ductor, to being a social justice advocate. We may not always remember the ties Oakville has to the Underground Railroad, as our town was once an end point for African-Americans fleeing to Canada. As we celebrate Canada' s 150th anniversary this year, it' s important to remember our black heritage, our Ca nadian heritage and our own Oakville history. Tubman was among many black Canadians -- some Oakville residents-- who helped shape this nation: For example, Lincoln Alexander was born of West Indian immigrant parents and sworn in as Ontario' s Lt-Gov in September 1985, the first black person to hold the vice-regal position in Canada. He was also the first black MP and cabinet minister. His widow still lives in Oakville. · Captain Robert Wilson, who lived in the Mariner' s Home on Lawson Street was a Great Lakes ship' s captain of `Lady Colborne' and `Baltic,' who helped slaves es cape to Canada. The African-American escapees were concealed in the grain vessels aboard his ship and he was an important member of the Temperance Union. Following the American Civil War, African-Amer icans celebrated Emancipation Day at George' s Square on Trafalgar Road and would visit Wilson' s home. Oakvilles James W Hill Public School is named in honour of one of the hundreds of African-Americans came to this area, including Maryland-born James Wes ley Hill, also known as `Canada Jim,' who came here via the Underground Railroad. After crossing the border in a packing box, Hill set tled on a farm in Oakville. He helped many slaves who followed by giving them work on his strawberry farm, helping make Oakville the one-time strawberry in dustry capital of Canada. Hill became an agent for the Underground Railroad, returning to the United States several times over the next few years and leading an estimated 700-800 African Americans back to Oakville. He became known as `Canada Jim' for his escapades. Hill built a house at 457 Maple Grove Dr. Hill' s memory is honoured in Montgomery County, Md. Through their contributions, and those made by many other black Canadians, our country and our world is a richer place in which to live. This month the Canadian Caribbean Association of Halton (CCAH) hosted an evening at Town Hall to celebrate Black History Month. It featured perfor mances by talented artists and the black history exhibit presented by the Oakville Museum, The Underground Railroad-- Next Stop, Freedom!, is not to be missed. If you don't know it, find out about it, learn about it and celebrate Oakville' s noteworthy contributions to black heritage in Canada. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to ablackburn@ oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. "C o n n e c t e d t o y o u r C o m m u n i t y " OAKVUE Beaver. 5046 Mainway Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Classified Advertising: (9 0 5 ) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 55 | Number 11 The Oakville Beaver is a division of ·* · metrolandmedia Connected to your community® Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. NEIL OLIVER Vice -President and Group Publisher of Metroland West KELLY MONTAGUE Regional General Manager DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director LORI ANN GZOVDANOVIC Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Letter to the Editor Director of Distribution KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Former MP weighs in on broken promises How do you know when your vote w as sto len? Because your only pleasure in reading th e news is th a t th e federal governm ent has broken another prom ise. Recently it w as electoral reform . No w on der. It w as always a so lu tion looking fo r a problem . As th e C onservative candidate fo r Oakville in th e last election, I knocked doors in Oakville fo r over fo u r m onths. No one, not even one person, suggested changing our electoral system . The Liberal brain tru s t hatched th is schem e to ensure Liberal hegem ony fo r decades by m anipulating our electoral sys te m . Having won a m ajority, m anipulating th e system is no longer a priority. W hat w as an unequivocal prom ise by now Prime M in ister Justin Trudeau th is would be " th e last federal election conducted under th e fi rstpast-the-post voting s y s te m " is now, in CIA te rm s, no longer operable. Balancing th e budget in fo u r years w as th e key electoral prom ise m ade, because it provided cover fo r th e co stin g o f all th e ir other prom ises, and it scooped up votes fro m fiscal conservatives. But th e num bers never added up and it w as broken w ithin m onths, m agically m orphing into fo rty years o f deficits up to $ 3 0 billion, a significant th rea t. Canada is now heading th e way o f southern Europe. Im agine th e th o u sa n d s o f young peo ple w ho happily posed fo r s e lf ies w ith Mr. Trudeau and voted Liberal who s till have no idea w h a t burden his m assive d eb t will place on th e m th e re st o f th e ir lives, in high er taxes and reduced governm ent services. Sad. Votes fro m th e left were grabbed with see Former on p.8 TheB Beaver. 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