By Neil Armstrong
When Gloria Walcott got here to Canada in 1955 beneath the West Indian Home Scheme, she was among the many first 25 ladies from Barbados collaborating within the focused immigration program for home employees which introduced 3,000 ladies from the Caribbean by the point it led to 1968.
Walcott, 92, was amongst these gathered at Blackhurst Cultural Centre in Toronto — the place her daughter Itah Sadu is the managing director — to witness the plaque unveiling ceremony for the West Indian Home Scheme, 1955-1967, by the Canadian authorities.
David Gibbs, Barbados Consul to Toronto, introduced a plaque with the names of the pioneering 25 ladies who had been honoured by the Authorities of Barbados in 2007 for migrating to Canada as home employees in November to December, 1955, beneath the West Indian Home Scheme.
Walcott and former Member of Parliament Jean Augustine unveiled the plaque which can have a everlasting dwelling at Bathurst subway station.
Marci Ien, Minister for Girls and Gender Equality and Youth, stated the scheme didn’t solely end result from authorities coverage but in addition from the advocacy of individuals like group icon Donald Moore, founding father of the Negro Citizenship Affiliation, who fought for change and alternatives.
The West Indian Home Scheme started with 100 ladies — 25 from Barbados and 75 from Jamaica — and through its 12-year historical past introduced ladies from different nations comparable to Grenada, Guyana, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Some had been already educated as lecturers, nurses, clerks however right here they had been tasked with one thing new — home work — and confronted racial discrimination. They confronted decrease wages and isolation, famous Ien.
“They didn’t cease although. After finishing their 12 months of home work many transitioned to different fields, and so they started reshaping the communities they lived in as a result of that’s what Black ladies do.
“They pushed via limitations of discrimination, limitations of inequity and in doing so opened doorways for others. They had been the primary wave of migration that may proceed proper via the 70s reworking cities like Toronto into hubs of Caribbean tradition and excellence,” she stated.
Minister Ien stated the plaque is greater than a marker of historical past but in addition a dedication to telling the reality — typically the exhausting reality —in regards to the challenges these ladies confronted, the injustices they overcame and the long run they helped create.
This system allowed ladies from the Caribbean to return to Canada for work with the promise of landed immigrant standing after one 12 months. That standing meant entry to schooling, the power to work in different fields and the chance to sponsor relations.
Toronto metropolis councillor Chris Moise spoke about his aunt, Maureen, coming to Canada beneath the scheme and sponsoring family members.
Jean Augustine, who got here to Canada in 1960 beneath the scheme, stated the federal authorities is recognizing that they got here and are nation builders.
“Our wage was something from $90 to $100 a month. We got a half a day per week and we had been employed for the remainder of the week. A few of us discovered ourselves in very tough conditions, households with six kids, 5 kids. I used to be fortunate, I ended up with a household with one child and a mom who beloved tv, so she and I watched numerous tv. I learnt quite a bit about Canadian society via tv. I used to be capable of attain my full potential in Canadian society. I used to be capable of finding others who had been doing the advocacy and who had been making certain that we made the society what it stated it was — a various, a good, a simply, an inclusive society, a mosaic.”
Artist Nadine Williams stated her mom immigrated to Canada from Jamaica and left her and her brother with family members. Her mom’s first job was in housekeeping on the Regal Constellation Resort for 28 years.
Historian Kathy Grant shared a video of Pearl Haynes, 103, a Barbadian and Toronto resident who labored beneath the West Indian Home Scheme.
#WestIndianDomesticScheme #BlackCanadianHistory #CaribbeanHeritage #BlackhurstCulturalCentre #TrailblazingWomen #CommunityLeaders #TorontoEvents #JeanAugustine #MarciIen #CaribbeanCulture #BlackExcellence #caribbeancameranow
