UN report urges Nova Scotia to secure land titles for residents of African descent
This week, a UN report slammed Canada and Nova Scotian governments for not doing enough to secure land titles for African-Nova Scotians.
For years, residents have been paying property taxes for family-owned land without the legal title to this land.
It's an issue that dates back to the early 19th century, when white settlers were given title to the land and African-Nova Scotians were not. And it means that many in the community, are effectively squatters on their own land.
Nova Scotia has responded to the UN's call to fix this historic injustice and pledged $2.7 million to do just that.
"African-Nova Scotians have suffered more than anyone else in Nova Scotia — great indignities and injustices with respect to land," African Nova Scotian Affairs Minister Tony Ince said at the funding announcement.
Dwight Adams, one of the founding members of the North Preston Land Recovery Initiative, has been fighting the Nova Scotia government for years to solve the land title problem.
"The bottom line is that we should have been given these titles at the beginning of time," Adams tells The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.
"We have our property, we've paid our taxes, we were productive citizens and here we are today still behind the eight ball so to speak without any further assistance until today."
It's taken so long to get to this point, Adam says, because the issue is deeply rooted in racism.
"I'm in my 50's. I heard it through my parents, my grandparents and my great-grandparents and some of those elders that are still alive today."
The stories shared are appalling and hurtful, says Adams.
"It's 2017 and yet here we are today sitting down and talking about the systemic racism of a nation that is to me, an amazing nation. And it's just, it's embarrassing. "
Professor Isaac Saney agrees racism is clearly part of the equation and says the critical UN report encapsulates "the experience of people of African descent in this province."
"It's a scathing indictment of the way people of African descent have been treated," he tells Tremonti and says it is astounding no official provincial or federal government pronouncement has been made in reference to the evidence the UN report reveals.
While Saney is pleased to see the government has acknowledged the need to resolve this land issue, he isn't convinced of the solution.
"I don't think these resources are going to be enough to resolve it in a timely fashion that I think is resonant and harmonious with justice."
Listen to the full segment near the top of this web post.
This segment was produced by The Current's Samira Mohyeddin, Yamri Taddese and Halifax network producer Mary-Catherine McIntosh.