REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON CONTEMPORARY
FORMS OF RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA
AND RELATED INTOLERANCE, MR. DOUDOU DIÈNE, ON HIS
MISSION TO CANADA FROM 15 TO 26 SEPTEMBER 2003
(Excerpt)
B. Persons of African origin, particularly Loyalists' descendants in Nova Scotia.
The Special Rapporteur has received a plea from descendants of the African-Canadian community in Nova Scotia to tell the story of Africville, which they see as emblematic of the situation of discrimination against Afro-Canadians. Africville was one of the settlements of Blacks who came to the shores of what is now known as Nova Scotia.
It dates back to the 1700s and one of the first purchases of property deeds was recorded in 1848. Blacks who settled there came to Nova Scotia bound as slaves of the French, British, and Portuguese. They also came as Black British Loyalists, during the time of the American Revolutionary War in 1776; as Jamaican Maroons in 1796; and as American slaves who were promised freedom by the British
during the War of 1812. These diverse groups would eventually settle the area that once stood overlooking the grand Bedford Basin that would grow to be Africville.
Eighty families lived and worked in a self-reliant community, on their own property.
The period between 1913-1973 saw industrial growth at the expense of the residents of Africville. A bone-meal plant, a cotton factory, a rolling mill/nail factory, a slaughterhouse, and a port facility for handling coal were built within earshot of residential homes. In the 1950s, the city dump was moved to within 100 metres of the westernmost group of Africville homes.
Not only had the city leaders surrounded Africville with unwanted, dirty and dangerous facilities, by 1915 they had made explicit their intention to use land occupied and owned by the people of Africville for industrial expansion. By 1960, the city of Halifax embarked on an urban renewal campaign, which would forcibly displace the residents of Africville in order to make room for industrial expansion. After 150 years of collusion between the provincial Government and the business community, including through abuse of power, neglect, encroachment and invasion of hazardous industrial materials, in 1970 all of the community was forcefully removed without proper compensation.
The case of Africville is emblematic of the past condition of people of African descent in Nova Scotia. The Black community in Nova Scotia faces numerous challenges, including, the overrepresentation in prisons, a dependence on the welfare system, and increase of representation in low-income housing and other problems in the criminal justice system.
The Special Rapporteur hopes that the recent nomination of a Minister of African
Nova Scotian Affairs is a demonstration of the Government of Nova Scotia's will to address the issues raised above in close consultation with the people concerned.
Conclusion:
In consultation with communities of African origin or their descendants, the Government of Nova Scotia should re-examine the conditions of their relocation,
particularly from Africville, taking particular account of their situation regarding human rights and economic and social conditions with a view to granting them reparation.
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